Swansea barrage represents a key opportunity

Charles Hendry's report into the exciting Swansea Lagoon has given it the thumbs up.

The former energy minister concludes:

"I started this process with interest but sceptical. The more evidence I have seen, the more persuaded I have become that tidal lagoons do have an important role to play and there should be a government strategy in place to help this happen."

But it is not a cheap source of power. It has enemies. Among them is Jonathan Ford, writing yesterday in the FT,

Strangely, he quotes John Constable of the so-called Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), who lambasts it. The REF is a bogus organisation that does the opposite of what its name suggests. A simple Google search will reveal this, such as this piece. 

That aside, it is important to factor into any calculation about this investment that the lagoon will last 3-4 times longer than Hinkley or any other nuclear power station, and so its costs should be factored over around 100 years.

Hydroelectric power dams last for a at least this length of time. Admittedly the conditions for the barrage are slightly more stressful, being in salt water, but the area of Swansea Bay to be occupied by the barrage is a doubly sheltered one – both by the Bristol Channel and the horseshoe shape of the Bay itself.

Let's recall nuclear power's toxic legacy, and EDF's abysmal record, and nuclear power stations' own unreliability (often offline for weeks at a time for maintenance and safety), which should also should be factored in. 

Balance this against the modular nature of the turbines in the barrage (if one fails the others will keep working) and the predictability of the electricity (from the predictability of the tides).

Ford argues that nuclear is continuous source of power and the barrage is not, but the barrage has the ability to store energy (as water) within itself. The imminent availability of cheap electricity storage technologies will also help match supply with demand.

Tidal barrage and lagoon schemes are a new technology. Backing them will position the UK well as a world expert, leading to further lucrative business for UK plc.  China is already utilising it.

We have delayed long enough and let China get ahead. Let's get on with it.

Consultation opens on world’s first tidal lagoon

A detail from the 3-D flythrough designed to show what the lagoon will look like.

Public consultation has opened on the world’s first purpose-built tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay.

Public exhibitions are taking place at 18 locations around the Swansea Bay area from 4 July to 5 August.

The proposed tidal lagoon will have a rated capacity of 240MW, generating 400GWh net annual output, or enough electricity for approximately 121,000 homes, representing 70% of Swansea Bay’s annual domestic electricity use (Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot, 173k households); or about 9% of Wales’ annual domestic electricity use (based on 1,369k households).

The £650 million development will also host visitor facilities and other amenities including art, education, mariculture and sporting/recreational facilities.

The seawall is expected to be open to the public during daylight hours, though access will be controlled in extreme weather.

As part of the formal consultation for the proposed Development Consent Order (DCO) application by Tidal Lagoon (Swansea Bay) plc (TLSB), a new, virtual 3D programme has been prepared, which shows the lagoon in the context of Swansea Bay using an interactive fly-through.

Head of Planning for TLSB, Alex Herbert says: "This tool will help people to experience and understand the lagoon proposals as accurately as possible, so their feedback can help us to develop a truly world-class facility. All feedback from consultation will be taken into account as we move towards making a planning application later this year.”

Alister Kratt, Partner of LDA Design, said: “As the project develops, the opportunities that the masterplan provides should secure significant benefits for Swansea, including the completion of an attractive marine park which extends into the bay.”

As the project is an offshore electricity generating station of more than 100MW, it is considered to be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the Planning Act 2008, and so requires that a DCO is first granted by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change via an application to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS).

Because it is located in Welsh coastal waters, it also requires a marine license to be granted via an application to the Marine Licensing Team of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on behalf of the Welsh Government.

Additional consents may also be required from City & County of Swansea Council (CCSC) or Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council (NPTCBC) for elements of the Project which sit outside the NSIP and DCO.

How the plant will work

In order to control the flow of seawater to generate electricity, the Tidal Lagoon will be built by forming a 9.5km-long, U-shaped seawall running from Swansea Port out to sea before curving back to re-join land adjacent to Swansea University’s new Science and Innovation Campus (SAIC).

The seawall will have a sediment core held in place by a casing of sediment-filled geotextile tubes, known as Geotubes®.

The outside of the structure will be covered in rock armour of various sizes, depending on its level of exposure. The sand used to form the walls will be taken from within the lagoon footprint.

Rock armour will then be brought in by sea to provide protection. The top of the seawall will have an access road which will be used for operation and maintenance of the lagoon as well as for visitors.

In the south-western part of the seawall there will be a turbine/sluice gate housing structure. The housing structure will contain between 16 and 22 hydro turbines, which will be permanently underwater.

These turbines (which will be 7m-8m in diameter) will generate electricity on both the flood (in-coming) and ebb (out-going) tides. There will also be around 10 sluice gates, which will be underwater and able to let seawater in and out of the lagoon without going through the turbines, as required.

To generate electricity, as the sea starts to rise (flood tide) from low tide level, water is prevented from entering the lagoon for an average of 2 hours 5 minutes, and this creates a difference in water levels, known as ‘head’.

Once sufficient head has been reached, the water is allowed to flow into the lagoon through the turbines, turning the runner (which is shaped like a propeller) and generating electricity.

This process is repeated on the ebb tide, where the water is prevented from leaving the lagoon until there is sufficient head to start the process again.

Towards the end of the ebb or flood tide the sluice gates will be opened. This is to empty or fill the lagoon as quickly as possible before low or high tide level.

By doing this, it ensures that the lagoon water level is as close to the outside sea level as possible, before the tide starts to rise or fall again.

This is to maximise electricity generation and to keep the intertidal area as close as possible to that occurring naturally outside the lagoon.

An option to pump the seawater at the end of the tide is also being looked at to further equalise seawater levels.

This generation sequence will happen four times a day in total. The electricity generated from the lagoon will be transported to the nearest National Grid substation at Baglan by underground cables.

The cables will be laid in the seawall and then alongside existing roads/paths to the River Neath and onto the substation. To cross the River Neath, the cable will either be put through existing disused pipes or it will be drilled underneath the river.

Tidal Lagoon Power Limited

Tidal Lagoon Power Limited is privately funded and founded by Mark Shorrock, CEO, who has founded four companies including Wind Energy Ltd, a Scottish-based developer of wind farms. He grew Wind Energy Ltd into the largest independent developer of wind farms in the UK with over 650MW of wind farms moving through the planning process.

In 2006, Mark founded Low Carbon Investors, investment manager of the AIM listed Low Carbon Accelerator fund which he also founded. In 2008, he founded Low Carbon Solar Holdings, a private investment vehicle currently investing in solar power plants in Spain.

Prior to founding TLP, Mark was a founder of Low Carbon Solar which, in 2011, developed and funded the deployment of £70m of solar energy, totalling 28MW.

Tidal power globally

There are currently three large scale uni-directional tidal range plants in operation: Annapolis in the Bay of Fundy, Canada (30MW), La Rance in Brittany, France (240MW) and Sihwa in Korea (254MW).

There are also experimental tidal range energy projects being tested in Russia, UK, Australia, USA, Argentina, Canada, India, Korea and Mexico.

Potential sites for tidal range energy projects include the UK, France, Eastern Canada, Pacific coast of Russia, Korea, China, Mexico and Chile.

Other sites have been identified along the Patagonian coast of Argentina, Western Australia and Western India. In total, 70% of the Earth’s surface is ocean and 500,000km2 of that offers over four metres of tidal range.

Swansea Bay is one such place, and has been chosen as it offers the necessary conditions for building lagoons: the water must be shallow and the tidal range must be large.

The Severn Estuary holds the second highest tidal range in the world and Swansea Bay reaches a range of just over 10m.

As well as benefitting from this key characteristic, Swansea has a gently sloping seabed (suitable for this construction method) and proximity to a population centre, such that transmission losses are minimised from the electricity produced.

The case for the Severn tidal barrage must be improved

Former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, MP for Neath near Swansea, has given MPs an enthusiastic account of the proposed design by Hafren Power for a tidal barrage across the Severn estuary twice recently.

The first time was in the Commons debate on the Energy Bill and the second was last Thursday in front of the Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change, which is pursuing an enquiry into the scheme.

I have to declare an interest here: I was commissioned to help write a document advocating the advantages of the scheme at an early stage.

I think it is a very exciting project. But at the same time I want to see any negative environmental effects of the scheme minimised.

It's now well known that this is a completely different proposition from the previous tidal barrage proposal that was rejected in 2010.

For example, it is claimed that the turbines are fish friendly, because they operate at a lower speed, enabling fish to swim both ways through them.

These new turbines will also work on the ebb and flow of the tide, meaning they can generate power 24/7.

Peter Hain told the Committee that the developers, Hafren Power, are prepared to settle for a strike price for the electricity generated that is the same as that received by offshore wind under contracts for difference (CfD). That, if true, is very reasonable.

The claim by the developers is that it will generate 5% of the UK's electricity needs, about the same as three new nuclear power stations and 7,000 wind turbines.

But it will last a lot longer. Like any hydroelectric scheme, it will last for up to 120 years, possibly more, and for most of its life it will therefore produce electricity 75% cheaper than coal or gas. Another considerable advantage.

No Treasury (taxpayers') money will be required to help finance it. However, it will use up a considerable amount of the Levy Control Framework. DECC has already indicated that this could be a concern for other low carbon technologies, for which little money would be left. Why put all one's eggs in one project basket?

The developers claim that the project will remove the need for millions of pounds worth of flood defences being built, because in itself it will protect much of the area from the risk of sea level rise and storm surges. They have even offered to build a Bridgwater bund to protect the Somerset Levels, which are very vulnerable.

However, this money saved cannot be offset against the Levy Control Framework, which is passed on to electricity consumers. There is no way to compensate them for the money saved from not spending on flood defences.

Nor has Hafren demonstrated that the project will protect areas upstream of the barrage from floodwaters coming down river.

It claims that it will generate 50,000 jobs, and on this basis it has won the support of Martin Mansfield, General Secretary of the Welsh TUC and Andy Richards, Wales Secretary for the Unite Union. However there is no supporting evidence explaining how so many jobs can be created.

The Angling Trust is adamant that the technology as so far presented to it is not safe for fish. Other conservation groups equally remain to be convinced.

The Habitats Directive requires that any designated ecology threatened by development must be compensated for elsewhere. In order to comply, the estuary would have to be stripped of its special status by application to the European Commission, a process which could take years due to the scientific evidence that would need to be collected and the natural inertia of the Commission.

Hain, in giving his evidence, was bending over backwards to help appease these objections. The man is staking his reputation as an MP on a private company's single project.

It would be tragic if a perfectly good opportunity to tackle climate change, energy security, promote renewable energy and stimulate the economy to the extent that this project has the potential to, were to be scuppered by the traditional, knee-jerk, objections of the traditional wing of the conservation movement.

After all, it is projected that between 10 and 20% of the habitat within the Severn estuary will be lost due to climate change and other factors anyway, in the future. The barrage proposal claims that 25% will be lost. This leaves a net loss of between 5 and 15%, which is perhaps not so significant when comparing to the environmental benefits.

The company has committed to engage with the Angling Trust, the RSPB and other conservation groups in developing the design. It has invited the Trust to test the turbine with them to see if it is a danger to fish. Together they can perhaps develop an even more fish friendly version of the turbine.

Similarly, a war has been growing between Bristol and Port Talbot ports over their mutual future viability, once the barrage is built, and employment prospects. They need to talk to each other and engage with the project to make sure that everyone benefits and no one loses out.

The project also has the potential to divide the south-west from South Wales, over competition for jobs. Developers must make sure that each side benefits here too.

This is a project with such potentially massive benefits that it cannot be dismissed easily. Its impacts will be correspondingly huge.

All big projects represent big change, and this scares people. They find it difficult to imagine what the finished product will be like and how it will affect the surrounding area.

All affected parties must therefore come together and explore it to see if together they can find a mutually acceptable solution.

It behoves Hafren to listen carefully to them all, to take their concerns on board and work with them.

All of this will take time. But it is the only environmentally and socially acceptable way to proceed.

The new Energy Bill should abandon support for nuclear newbuild

The draft Energy Bill expected this week should face the reality: it makes more sense to give 100% support to renewable electricity and energy efficiency than to continue trying to attract interest in expensive nuclear newbuild.

Last summer's Electricity Market Review White Paper assumed that the UK would soon have 16 GW of new nuclear capacity, with the first new nuclear reactor scheduled to become operational in 2018. Less than a year later, this now seems laughable.

The truth is that the ongoing fiscal crisis in the Eurozone means that the cost of capital is only going to rise. It is the high initial cost of new nuclear power stations and their long payback period that is the reason why nuclear operators are already pulling out. The coming fiscal firestorm will be the final nail in the coffin.

With the Government due to publish its new Energy Bill, now is the time for it to recognise this reality and stop trying to flog a dead horse. Otherwise, its pro-nuclear policy risks spending far more public money than it already has on feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaics. It will make that amount of cash look like a drop in the ocean.

It's right for the Cabinet to worry, as it is doing, about whether the Green Deal will work. But it would be even more sensible to re-examine its policy on nuclear power - or it will start to look like the white elephant in the room.

EDF is the only nuclear operator with a modicum of credibility still in the running for newbuild, although Charles Hendry and the Financial Times would have you believe some Chinese operators are interested in Horizon. But with the advent of François Hollande, known to be lukewarm on nuclear power, to the French presidency, the enthusiasm of this 85%-French state-owned company for the construction of the most likely new plant at Hinckley point in Somerset is likely to cool.

EDF has already postponed the groundwork preparations for the site until next year while it waits to see what happens. The agreement which David Cameron signed on nuclear power with Nicolas Sarkozy in February is now not worth the paper on which it is written. It didn’t even represent much at the time.

Energy Minister Charles Hendry continues to talk up nuclear power, but he might as well be asking banks to invest in Spain. Two weeks ago he told the Nuclear Institute that RWE and E.ON’s decision to withdraw from Horizon's plans to build new power stations at Wylfa and Oldbury was “very disappointing", but he still hoped that the Energy Bill's proposed Contracts for Difference and other electricity market reforms would give investors the certainty they need to invest in new nuclear power.

You can understand why he wants to keep the Government’s options open. But it's a wise gambler who knows when to fold. The Government should instead put its limited resources in the service of solutions that have a much higher probability of working.

These resources include £13 million of DECC's budget currently spent on promoting nuclear power.

But, you say, what of the need to keep the lights on? There's more than one way to fit a lightbulb. Last year's White Paper's impact assessment argued that wind power, being easier to start up, would be turned off by system operators, in periods when it could generate and when demand is low, in preference to nuclear, because the latter is much more expensive to start up after shutdown.

This automatically penalises wind power and favours nuclear. Nuclear is seen as baseload, whereas wind, because of its intermittency, is not.

In the intervening time since the publication of the White Paper, more gas-powered generation has been consented. Because it can both supply baseload and is easy to start up and turn off, this gas-fired capacity negates the need for new nuclear power.

It also means that offshore wind power, tidal power (Peter Hain's new version of the Severn barrage that will be financed by private investment and produce as much as for nuclear power stations), as well as sustainable biomass, which includes anaerobic digestion, can be favoured over gas by system operators at times of low demand.

It also turns out that it is cheaper to strengthen the UK’s electricity grid connections with Europe (and this is being done anyway), widening the range of renewable sources of power, and to expand the facilities for balancing supplies with demand, than it is to build new nuclear plant. This will ensure that the lights stay on even if there is a flat calm over the UK for some time during the winter.

The Government can therefore support the provision of the maximum amount of renewable energy while maintaining a strategic reserve of gas-fired plants, together with a strategic reserve of fuels to power them.

And with the abandonment of nuclear newbuild, more capital and investment will be available for renewable energy, which will in many cases be quicker to build.

Cheaper electricity

A change in policy would also make future electricity costs lower for consumers.

This is because the Feed-In Tariff Contract for Difference policy is currently designed to benefit nuclear power the most, at a cost to consumers: the reduction in the cost of capital using this mechanism is, according to the EMR White Paper, 1.5% for nuclear, compared to 0.5%-0.8% for offshore wind; 0.5% for biomass; 0.4% for coal with CCS; and 0%-0.3% for onshore wind.

The proposed carbon price floor also benefits nuclear power far more than other technologies. The Treasury Secretary, Justine Greening MP, has admitted that the benefits to the existing nuclear sector are likely to be "an average of £50 million per annum to 2030 due to higher wholesale electricity prices".

WWF and Greenpeace together have calculated that the benefit could be much higher: up to £3.43 billion between 2013 and 2026, i.e., £264 million per year.

Therefore, if both of these policies were modified or abandoned in the new Energy Bill, electricity prices in the future would be lower.

Next week’s Bill will contain these policies, but it is only a draft. It doesn’t have to remain this way.

MPs call for targets to help Britain rule the world's waves again

Marine Current Turbines' commercial-scale demonstration project with SeaGen in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. The shrimp MCT has just been swallowed by the Siemens' whale.

The UK could become a leading exporter of wave and tidal power equipment and expertise if the Government adopts a more visionary approach to developing marine renewables, according to a new report by the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee.

The MPs suggest giving targets to set the pace of development and show commitment, and suggest a cost target for marine energy of 14p/kWh by 2020.

Tim Yeo MP, Chair of the Committee, said that "We are extremely well placed to lead the world in wave and tidal technologies, which could potentially bring significant benefits in manufacturing and jobs, as well an abundant supply of reliable low-carbon electricity".

He called for "a more visionary approach from the Department of Energy and Climate Change" which "could help to boost confidence and drive the pace of development".

The UK is currently the world leader in the development of wave and tidal energy technologies. Of the eight full-scale prototype devices installed worldwide, seven are in the UK.

The country is lucky to have an abundant natural resource, along with Canada, France and East Asia, with the added advantage of a long history of academic research, world-class testing facilities and a strong skills base in other maritime industries.

The worldwide potential for power generated by tidal power plants is estimated at 800TWh a year, or about 3-4% of global power consumption.

Don't repeat mistakes

The MPs urge the Government not to repeat the mistakes that allowed the UK to lose its lead in the development of wind power. In the 1970s, it was a leader in the research and testing of wind turbines, but failed to establish a domestic manufacturing industry and missed out on many economic benefits.

By contrast, Denmark supported its wind power industry through the early adoption of Feed-in Tariffs and is now hosts the world’s largest supplier of wind turbines.

Those MPs with long memories may also have in mind a 1970s pioneering British wave power invention, Salter's Duck, whose development was allegedly sabotaged by Government officials prejudiced against renewable energy, by falsifying research results concerning its efficiency, leading to the cancellation of a ￡1m research project. This set marine power development back at least ten years.

"An overly cautious approach to developing the sector may allow other less risk-averse countries to steal the UK's lead," MPs warn.

The report recommends ways to maintain crucial investor confidence by maintaining policy certainty and sharing risk.

MPs also note the need to address other barriers to commercialisation such as grid connection, the consenting process, the need for better data on marine wildlife and public attitudes.

At the moment the industry is required to underwrite the cost of new grid connections. The committee report says that this places "an excessive burden on individual developers", as the cost is disproportionately borne, and suggest that either the Marine Energy Programme Board set up consortia that would shoulder this responsibility, or that the Government should underwrite some of the cost.

They also call for a simplification of a "complicated funding landscape" for marine renewables which leads to "overlaps and inefficiencies in the way the programmes are funded".

"The ￡20 million provided by DECC to underpin a world-leading industry is not large", they say, and so must be spent wisely.

They stop short of calling for more funding.

They also note a shortage of skilled scientists and engineers and want the Government to encourage more students into these disciplines now to take advantage of future opportunities.

On the investment issue, Martin McAdam of Aquamarin Power observed that "private sector investors can see the support available via Renewable Obligation Certificates until 2017, when they will be phased ou, but beyond that, the view is unclear.

"The critical enabler for our industry will be the long-term signal of a suitable marine energy feed in tariff (FIT).

"The shift from ROCs to FITs has already unsettled potential investors, and what we need now is a stable tariff that will stay in place, and not be tinkered with for a number of years."

Ready for launch

A spokesman from DECC responded by saying that the Government is "fully committed to spurring on the growth of this industry", as the launch last month by Change Minister Greg Barker of the South West Marine Energy Park shows. He said there are plans to create similar parks in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

It's a time of exciting activity in the sector, but it is experiencing difficulty in finding investment partners in this country to help it take off.

Last week, Scottish tidal developer Marine Current Turbines (MCT) handed over boardroom control to German company Siemens, which bought a controlling stake in the company.

This world leader is already providing power to approximately 1500 households in a commercial-scale demonstration project with SeaGen in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, and has further projects at the planning stage, including the 8MW Kyle Rhea project in Scotland and the 10MW Anglesey Skerries project in Wales.

MCT needs investment and expertise to take it to the next stage of growth, and it evidently could not find a suitable British buyer.

Also north of the border, Alex Salmond is pinning hopes for Scotland's independence on success in the marine, and offshore wind, industry, which he believes will eventually let Scotland become an exporter of renewable energy and expertise, and he is securing partnerships in China and Abu Dhabi to help achieve this.

Wind developer Ecotricity has recently begun investing in a new kind of wave energy device called Searaser, which it believes will reach commercial stage before 2020, but both the developer and the investor in this case are British.

Marine power will match nuclear and offshore wind for cost in 14 years

The best marine energy sites could be cost-competitive with nuclear and onshore wind by 2025 with accelerated and targeted innovation, according to a new report from the Carbon Trust.

The report is based on an evaluation of the Carbon Trust's £3.5 million Marine Energy Accelerator (MEA) programme of support for technology innovation.

It calculates that there is enough practically harvestable marine energy to provide for around 20% of the UK’s electricity consumption in 2025.

With sufficient effort on innovation, costs of will come down to around 28p/KWh for wave and 16p/kWh for tidal stream by the time the industry is half way through developing its most energetic sites.

These costs, particularly of wave power, could fall even faster if other countries install significant capacity as they are planning.

The report analyses the latest evidence on the practical marine energy resource and puts the wave resource at 50 tera-watt-hours per year (TWh/yr) and tidal (stream and flow) at 20.6 TWh/yr. This is broadly the same as previous studies.

Costs are very site-specific, though; for example energy would be cheapest at Pentland Firth Deep - the biggest and the most energetic site - with over 6 TWh/yr of potential.

Estimating the future costs is also complex because of the many competing different emerging technologies with many components, such as cables, moorings and turbine blades, very few of which have been proven over significant periods of time in these harsh environments.

However, the first generation machines that have been tested in real conditions under the MEA do provide sufficient experience to give a reasonable estimate.

The report makes recommendations about what should happen over the first, second and third generations of implemented plants, each generation representing about five years of development.

It finds that installation costs can be lowered, as can the ability to tackle deeper sites. Marine Current Turbines (MCT)'s first-generation tidal device, currently being tested in Strangford Lough, is only suitable for shallow and relatively low wave sites.

But future iterations of the device will be able to deploy many more rotors in a single operation and access depths of over 40 metres and a more extreme tidal range. Significantly, version two will have a 20% lower capital cost per megawatt.

By the 2020s, third generation tidal flow machines will be able to generate electricity economically from sites with velocities too low to have been included in the main resource study.

As technology companies move towards 5MW projects - likely to require investments in the region of £30m-£50m - they will be working with developers to find equity investments in projects while also looking for continued investment at the company level. It is anticipated that it is utilities and project developers who will take the biggest stakes in marine energy farms.

A number of consortia have already formed with a view to developing commercial farms sites in the Orkney Waters Strategic Area identified by The Crown Estate.

These companies will have to install pre-commercial farms of around 5MW at these sites before technology is sufficiently developed for the 100MW+ farms they are planning.

To make this happen the Carbon Trust says that the government needs to create a stable framework for revenue support as well as capital support to enable developers to build the first tens and hundreds of megawatts of early commercial farms.

There also needs to be a clear position on planning for marine energy, with a streamlined consenting process and Strategic Environmental Assessments completed for some regions.

The Crown Estate, as owner of the seabed, must set out a roadmap for the wave and tidal industry.

The industry also needs to make a big push the technology innovation.

The stakes are high, but the rewards are fabulous, not only for the UK but for exporting the technology around the world, because already the UK is a world leader in this field.

£20m promised for marine energy

The Government has promised up to £20 million later in the year to develop a pre-commercial demonstration of wave and tidal energy devices.

Climate Change Minister Greg Barker made the announcement yesterday while visiting marine power developer Pelamis Wave Power at Leith Docks in Edinburgh.

Pelamis is planning a wave farm project off Shetland using its snakelike 'P2' device, which will follow successful trials by E.ON at the European Marine Energy Centre off the west coast of the Orkney mainland. These have shown a very good conversion efficiency of around 70% in small seas.

Subject to state aid approval, the cash will come from DECC’s budget of over £200 million that is set aside to fund low carbon technologies and was announced in the Spending Review.

It will complement several other sources of support which together will help to progress the development of marine devices from the current large scale prototypes to larger arrays in the ocean.

Greg Barker spoke of the ability of Britain to be a world leader in marine power and support "thousands of jobs in a sector worth a potential £15 billion to the economy to 2050."

Barker is also in Scotland to chair the second meeting of the UK Marine Energy Programme Board at Edinburgh University. The meeting will discuss the setting up of Marine Energy Parks.

Scotland and the South West host the hubs where the main innovative development work in these technologies is already being carried out.

The funding will be in addition to money which the UK hopes to secure from the EU New Entrant’s Reserve 300 (NER300) fund. Of the five UK renewables energy projects submitted to the NER300, three were for tidal stream arrays and one was for wave energy arrays.

Hartlepool lobbies for offshore renewables

Barker's colleague at DECC, Charles Hendry, was yesterday at the Port of Hartlepool visiting other energy industries associated with offshore work: a leading cable manufacturer for renewable energy projects, JDR Cable Systems, and Heerema Fabrication Group, which specialises in the engineering and fabrication of large and complex structures, mainly for the offshore oil & gas and energy industry.

The local MP, Iain Wright, is working hard to attract companies in the renewable energy sector to the area via an initiative called Chain Reaction.

This group represents a cluster of companies including NOF Energy, EIC, JDR Cables, Narec, CTC Marine, TATA, The Crown Estate and the Port Authority, PD Ports Group, who all support Teesside’s ambition to become a centre of excellence for the UK wind energy market.

Both Wright and PD Ports told Hendry that it is imperative that the Government has a direct, clear and positive view of the renewables sector, including Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs), funding and planning.

“There is a major reluctance to invest in this sector until the Government sets the level for ROCs which will determine what proportion of their power that UK electricity suppliers must generate from renewable sources,” said David Robinson, CEO, PD Ports Group.

A banding review is underway for ROC levels in the UK, and the result is expected later this year. Currently, for example, under the banded Renewables Obligation, wave and tidal technologies receive an enhanced level of ROCs for each MWh of eligible generation produced.

“As long as the Government delays specifying the ROC level, it causes great uncertainly in the market and gives international companies no clear incentive to invest in UK facilities,” Robinson told Hendry.

A review by ARUP conducted for the review published earlier this month made some ambitious projections for marine power:

• For wave power, there could be between 186MW and 279MW installed capacity by 2020 and 500MW and 2,520MW by 2030.
• For tidal stream (marine current turbines) there could be 241MW - 406MW worth of installations by 2020 and 500MW - 2,160MW by 2030.
• Tidal range deployment (barrages and lagoons) would only begin in 2021 and could entail 250MW - 1,000MW of power by 2030.

For comparison, offshore wind is expected to provide about eight times as much energy by 2030.

Marine power set to surge forward

The UK could capture up to a quarter of the global market in marine energy, worth about £76 billion, creating over 68,000 jobs in the UK by 2050, according to new analysis from the Carbon Trust and the EC.

The UK is currently the global leader in terms of marine renewable development. Its level of innovation activity has significant capabilities compared to elsewhere.

Partly because of its significant natural resources, the UK could therefore become the 'natural owner" of these technologies, and leave the commercialisation process for the rest of the world.

But given the relative early-stage of the technology, a few years of careful, concerted demonstration and development is required.

Because of its coastline and geographical location, the British Isles is blessed with almost half of Europe's wave and over a quarter of its tidal resources, representing about 2-3% of global wave resources and around 10% of global tidal resources.

Marine technologies include wave machines such as the Pelamis, used in a 2.5 MW British installation off Portugal, tidal barrages and lagoons, only currently implemented in one place in Europe - La Rance, and marine current turbines, such as Marine Current Turbines Ltd's (MCT) SeaGen machine.

The Carbon Trust report does not cover tidal barrages and lagoons, only marine current turbines.

Capturing the potential

Countries which now lead the way in other renewable technologies, such as Denmark and Germany with wind power, have done so by consistently and carefully supporting the companies involved, from the early stage through to maturity with technical and financial help.

As a result, tens of thousands of jobs have been created in the wind industry in Denmark, with most products being exported.

By contrast, in America and Britain, support for wind power was sporadic and short-term in the 1970s and 1980s, so they fell behind.

The report argues that we should not make the same mistake again with marine energy.

The industry, eagerly anticipating its 2011 Conference next month in Brussels, is in a similar stage that the wind industry was in in the 1970s. However, unlike them, there is already a ready market in China, Korea, America and European countries with Atlantic coasts, so the conference will focus on steps to commercialisation.

And unlike wind and solar energy, tidal energy is predictable.

The report says that the total market for marine energy in a high scenario is worth up to around ｣460 billion in the period until 2050, with the market reaching up to ｣40 billion per year by that date.

In the UK alone, the report considers that up to 1 GW of marine technologies could be installed by 2020, rising to 27.5 GW by 2050. Of this, 18.5 GW is wave energy and 9 GW is tidal stream.

Globally, deployment of wave energy capturing machines could be 189 GW by 2050. However, this depends on significant technological developments, giving rise to considerable uncertainty.

The Carbon Trust says that up to 52 GW of tidal energy could be deployed globally by 2050.

Competition

Britain faces competition from the US, Spain and Portugal particularly. The Basque Government, through the Basque Energy Agency (EVE), recently awarded a 10.4 million euro contract for supply of power and communication lines for the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (bimep), a wave energy research project, to Spanish company Elecnor.

Around the world there are around 80 device developers in wave energy technology. 80% of these are at early research stage. The leading developers are Pelamis (UK), Aquamarine Power (UK), and Ocean Power Technology (US).

In tidal stream there are around 50 developers globally. About eight building devices at full-scale. Many are being developed at smaller scale, but second-generation designs which could overtake. Leaders include Marine: Turbines, Atlantis, Hammerfest Strom, Voith Hydro, Puse Tidal, Tidal Generation and Open Hydro. The UK leads with around 15 devices. Canada has around seven and United States around five.

Of around 40 universities in the world researching the technologies, 13 are in the UK. The UK also has good testing infrastructure through NaREC MEC and WaveHub, essential for development of robust technologies.

Overcoming barriers

There are currently many competing types of wave and tidal machine. Last month, an intensive and valuable three year European project called EquiMar was completed, which attempted to evaluate them all, and the state of the industry. Several British organisations took part, including the University of Southampton, Pelamis and Wave Dragon.

EquiMar has produced comprehensive research reports including protocols for site evaluation, performance monitoring, risk assessment, and future scenarios.

It identified that the main barriers to development are:
- the supply chain of components
- planning issues
- the diversity of concepts
- lack of standards
- and, above all the small size of the sector at present.

Volume purchasing is required to combat some of these barriers, as happened in, for example, the nuclear industry in the 1960s and '70s, and the wind industry in the last 20 years. This will improve the technical performance of the chosen devices.

The Carbon Trust report also summarises what the industry needs to expand:
- technologies must be proven and ready to upscale
- they must be cost competitive with other low carbon technologies
- public acceptance and no negative environmental impact
- a drop in support for fossil fuel and nuclear power, or failure of carbon capture and storage to meet expectations.

MCT is monitoring its SeaGen turbines in Northern Island for its impact on wildlife such as seals. Results so far are good.

Both reports underline that planning issues are key so that the regime for offshore developments is quite clear. Depending on the location there are some synergies with offshore wind farm development, such as connectivity to the grid.

In the short-term, most of the supply chain will be inside the EU, but as the industry upscales the costs are driven down together with new markets expanding elsewhere, there is a strong likelihood that the supply chain will create jobs elsewhere in the world without government support in the form of tax breaks etc. as have been given to the coal, oil and gas industries.

Marine power receives another consent - as funding is cut

The second innovative marine current turbine installation in a month has been given approval by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne, on the same day - 31 March - that government support - the £42m Marine Renewable Deployment Fund (MRDF) - ended for this most promising renewable energy sector.

The project, in Ramsey Sound off Pembrokeshire, is a 1.2MW Deltastream device that will provide green electricity to the local distribution network during its 12 month test period. Managed by Tidal Energy Limited it has the potential to power up to 1,000 homes.

The project is backed by renewable energy investment firm Eco2. The pilot project involves installing three separate turbines connected and mounted on a 30m triangular frame for stability.

If the project successfully passes tests, a full array may follow in 2014.

"This is the first consented tidal stream project in Welsh waters and we are honoured to be at the forefront of the tidal energy industry in Wales," said Martin Murphy, managing director of Tidal Energy Ltd.

Wales hopes to deploy 4GW of wave and tidal devices by 2025. However, it will face constraints from existing stakeholders, according to the final report of the Marine Renewable Energy Strategic Framework (MRESF), launched by Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson last month. A target of 1.5GW of marine energy would mean fewer conflicts of interests with other claims on the seabed.

Davidson recently announced an agreement between the Welsh Assembly Government and The Crown Estate to work together to support marine energy manufacturing in Wales and to ensure the deployment of marine energy devices will not be delayed by infrastructure requirements.

The Carbon Trust estimates that we could meet up to 15% of our electricity needs from marine sources; trade body RenewableUK estimates this could potentially be up to 20%, and that we could install 2-3 GW of generation capacity by 2020, and up to 30 GW by 2050.

The DECC website observes that the UK currently leads the world in marine energy technologies. "Around our coastlines, we have the richest marine energy resource in Europe," it says.

Celebrating the announcement of the consent, energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne said, "We must make the most of our natural marine resource, not just to cut our emissions, but to boost energy security and create jobs. This is exactly the kind of innovative and exciting project I want to see more of."

More than 100 firms are now operating in this emerging industry. Leading companies include Ocean Power Technologies, Marine Current Turbines, Aquamarine Power and Pelamis.

At last month's wave and tidal energy industry trade conference in Edinburgh, members called for a better policy framework and more government support, under which the sector could create 20,000 direct jobs by 2020 and bring in annual revenues of ｣3.7bn.

The industry also pointed to the benefits of reduced grid-balancing costs resulting from this type of reliable renewable energy, the 42m tonnes of CO2 equivalent avoided each year by 2050, the potential to provide 20% of the UK's electricity from a secure domestic source, and the multi-billion-dollar export opportunities.

In this context RenewableUK's chief executive, Maria McCaffrey, wondered why the coalition ended the MRDF last month, while providing no indication on how it plans to support this promising emerging technology.

To campaign for more support amongst MPs the industry has launched the Seapower Campaign together with Greenpeace, WWF, the Green Alliance and Unite the Union.

I urge you to sign up to it.

Scotland sets sail for a sea-powered future

The world's largest marine current turbine 'farm' is to be installed off the West Coast of Scotland, the Scottish government has announced.

The news comes on the same day that a survey of Scottish business leaders by the Carbon Trust shows they unanimously (94%) believe that green growth is an opportunity for their businesses.

ScottishPower Renewables' £40 million 10MW tidal array development will harness the power of the Sound of Islay and generate enough electricity for over 5,000 homes - over double those on Islay. Amongst other things, the electricity produced will power eight whisky distilleries!

Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney, who determined the application, said, "With around a quarter of Europe's potential tidal energy resource and a tenth of the wave capacity, Scotland's seas have unrivalled potential to generate green energy, create new, low carbon jobs, and bring billions of pounds of investment to Scotland.

"This development - the largest tidal array in the world - does just that and will be a milestone in the global development of tidal energy."

He said that ScottishPower Renewables will work with the Islay Energy Trust to maximise social and economic opportunities, for instance using local marine contractors during installation or creating new local jobs in the onshore construction phase.

Marine consultation

The Scottish government is also conducting a consultation on its National Marine Plan is a major component of the Marine (Scotland) Act.

The document contains a Marine Atlas for Scotland which shows locations of different opportunities around the Scottish coast support the Plan.

Publishing the consultation draft Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead said: "The significance of the Marine Plan is immense. It will cover reserved as well as devolved issues and contain targets for the next five, 10 and 40 years in key areas such as renewable energy, fishing, aquaculture, conservation, recreation and tourism, ports and harbours and shipping."

Marine current turbines

Marine current turbines yield predictable supplies of renewable electricity, unlike solar or wind power. They depend on marine currents which are particularly strong in certain areas around the UK coast.

Unlike tidal barrages or lagoons, they are also modular - you can install one, two, or 100 at a time - and therefore cheaper to install than a barrage, and are less environmentally damaging to wildlife.

UK tidal energy company, Marine Current Turbines, has already installed one 1.2MW SeaGen in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough in April 2008. In 2013 it hopes to install a second Scottish tidal farm in Kyle Rhea, a strait of water between the Isle of Skye and the mainland.

Scottish businesses prepare for low carbon economy

The Carbon Trust survey revealed that 77% of Scottish business leaders expect a bigger percentage of jobs to be in the green economy in 5 years’ time, with it helping to grow the UK’s export market.

There is general agreement that new technology is going to drive green growth (75%) and about a third (36%) of businesses are already investing in the research and development of green products and services.

But of those surveyed, the highest proportion - 22% - believe that Germany is the best prepared nation to benefit from green growth, with the UK coming second with 19% citing the UK.

Osbourne axes Severn barrage

The BBC has just reported that George Osborne, the Chancellor, has told Chris Huhne, energy and climate change Secretary, to axe the Severn barrage.

This is a blow to the country's efforts to move towards a much lower carbon economy. Huhne is instead likely to sanction the building of new nuclear power stations.

The other options were intended to appease environmental campaigners worried about the loss of precious wildlife habitats in the estuary.

The technology could have generated up to 5% of Britain's electricity requirements, and created hundreds of jobs and develop technology that could have been exported around the world.

Instead eight sites have been approved for new nuclear power stations by 2025, which, if they go ahead, are likely to be financed and owned by foreign companies and produce fewer jobs. These are:

• Bradwell, Essex
• Hartlepool, Borough of Hartlepool
• Heysham, Lancashire
• Hinkley Point, Somerset
• Oldbury, South Glos.
• Sellafield, Cumbria
• Sizewell, Suffolk
• Wylfa, Isle of Anglesey.

They would add to the growing and expensive stockpile of nuclear waste, providing danger for thousands of years to come. In the Spending Review, more money was allocated to the task of safeguarding the existing stockpile.

Tidal power, on the other hand, is renewable and free, but the uranium for nuclear power stations is dangerous to mine and is likely to run out within 60 years.

A tidal scheme could last around 120 years, significantly longer than nuclear, thermal, wind, and other energy infrastructure, but in common with other hydropower generation projects.

This makes its overall levelised costs – lifetime costs – comparable to or better than other forms of generation, but the initial high capital cost is prohibitive in the current economic climate, the report says.

Supporters of the tidal project, which would link Lavernock Point near Cardiff, to Brean Down near Weston-Super-Mare, claimed it could generate 5% of Britain's electricity.

Dr Rob Kirby, an independent expert on the Severn Estuary, has worked on the project for the last 40 years, said: "The government's view is that it's too big a project to approach in financial terms.

"It's quite unambiguous - the Cardiff to Weston (barrage) can only benefit the environment and those who say otherwise are not telling the truth."

Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said scrapping the barrage would be "equally disastrous" for the economy and the environment.

"Not only is Chris Huhne turning his back on the proposed barrage scheme that would have created hundreds of good quality green jobs for Welsh people, it appears that he decided to abandon in its entirety the idea of using the Severn estuary as a generator of electricity," he said.

The feasibility study into a tidal energy project in the Severn estuary concludes that its total cost – over £30 billion – makes it unaffordable at the present time because a significant proportion of the funding would have to be borne by the taxpayer, and it would be difficult to attract sufficient private investment.

The report does not rule out a project in the estuary in the longer term if it could be shown that it did not fundamentally change the estuary's natural environment.

It also highlights the fact that even the scale and impact of smaller schemes like a tidal lagoon would be unprecedented in an environmentally sensitive area. Providing compensation for any possible damage is considered to be challenging.

The report argues that other low carbon energy sources represent a better deal in the short term for taxpayers, industry and consumers.

Dr Neil Bentley, CBI Director of Business Environment, commented: “Tidal power has the potential to play a significant role in the UK’s energy future. Given the state of the public finances, it is understandable that Government investment in the main Severn Barrage scheme has been ruled out at this time. But the Government should continue to encourage innovation in tidal power to reduce the cost of this technology.”

Welsh Environment Minister Jane Davidson added, “Two of the three schemes assessed under SETS showed a good deal of potential for extracting renewable energy from the area.

“However further work is needed to develop these technologies to the point where they may be considered as part of any future Tidal Power scheme.

“I would urge the UK Government and others to continue working with us and key business partners such as Veredeg and Rolls Royce on the development of these emerging technologies, not just for applications in the Severn but also in other locations around our resource rich coast line.

"These technologies have real potential to provide a vital source of renewable energy for the whole of the UK, which would enable us to increase our energy security and help in the global fight against climate change”

Severn tidal power shortlist contains two lagoon proposals

Up to 5% of UK electricity could be generated

Both controversial barrages and innovative tidal lagoons favoured by conservationists have made it onto the shortlist of schemes to generate electricity in the Severn estuary. If the largest were to go ahead, it could produce enough electricity to supply all of Wales' needs.

New funding of £500,000 has also been announced to further develop new technologies like tidal reefs and fences. Their progress will be taken into account before a final decision is made. The tides in the Severn estuary are the second highest in the world.

A year-long feasibility study has been investigating ten options that are now whittled down to five. A consultation is now underway until 23 April on which projects to take forwards (which includes the five schemes that didn't make the shortlist). The five schemes are:

• Cardiff Weston Barrage: crossing the estuary from Brean Down, near Weston-super-Mare to Lavernock Point, near Cardiff. Estimated capacity: over 8.6 gigawatts - nearly 5% of UK electricity
• Shoots Barrage: further upstream of the Cardiff Weston scheme. Capacity: 1.05GW (similar to a large fossil fuel plant)
• Beachley Barrage: just above the Wye River. Capacity: 625MW
• Bridgwater Bay Lagoon: on the English shore between east of Hinkley Point and Weston-super-Mare. Capacity: 1.36GW
• Fleming Lagoon: on the Welsh shore between Newport and the Severn road crossings. Capacity: 1.36GW.

The projected costs range from £2.1bn to £21bn. PricewaterhouseCoopers is reporting on financing options.

Rare habitat

The estuary is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA), under the European Union Birds Directive, in recognition of its internationally important overwintering bird populations.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: "We have tough choices to make. Failing to act on climate change could see catastrophic effects on the environment and its wildlife, but the estuary itself is a protected environment, home to vulnerable species including birds and fish.

"We need to think about how to balance the value of this unique natural environment against the long-term threat of global climate change," Miliband concluded.

Under the Habitats laws a development can proceed if it is within the overriding public interest to do so, even if it may damage protected sites, but only if it can ensure that the appropriate compensatory measures to secure the coherence of the Natura 2000 network of sites and replace lost habitats before the project proceeds.

The study has considered this up to a point but come to no firm conclusion yet on whether it would be possible to deliver compensation on the scale required, calling it "a significant challenge".

The shortlisted schemes are based on relatively well understood hydroelectric technologies, with a mix of existing and new engineering structures.

The scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment has also been published to ensure a detailed understanding.

> Severn Tidal Power Consultation

Tidal vs Nuclear

Even as Gordon Brown gives support for more nuclear newbuild, tidal stream energy makes big strides forwards while nuclear costs rise and problems continue

Decommissioning costs rising

The cost of cleaning up the UK's nuclear facilities - some of which date back to the 1950s - will rise above £73bn, even as Gordon Brown is rushing to build new ones. Jim Morse, a senior director at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) told the BBC this week that the costs of dismantling 19 sites will rise by billions of pounds. The National Audit Office upgraded the figure to £73bn. it just keeps going up.

Morse said: "I think it's a high probability that in the short term it will undoubtedly go up. We've still a lot to discover. We haven't started waste retrieval in those parts of the estate where the degradation and radioactive decay has been at its greatest. No-one's done this before."

Nuclear shutdowns

In other nuclear developments this week, two of British Energy's ageing nuclear reactors - the Hunterston B7 reactor at Largs, Ayrshire, and the Sizewell B reactor in Leiston, Suffolk - also shut down unexpectedly triggering blackouts.

Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace's climate and energy campaign, said: "The nuclear industry has had a woeful 24 hours that must be shaking confidence in this outdated technology. Sizewell B shut down unexpectedly, clean-up costs are soaring and the reactor that France wants to sell us has had construction halted for safety reasons."

EDF's not to be trusted

On Tuesday, the French nuclear safety authority (ASN) ordered EDF Energy to partly suspend the construction of its new-generation nuclear reactor in Flamanville after concerns about the quality of the construction work. This is the same company that has recently been buying up farmland adjacent to Wylfa nuclear power station on Anglesey, expecting to be given the green light to build a new nuclear power station there.

The local council is in favour of the project, because it is fearful that a nearby steel plant, dependent on the energy from the power plants, will have to close down when the power station is decommissioned after 2012. But the Welsh Assembly government has not given its view.

Marine current turbine world first

A Friends of the Earth Wales report has said a marine tidal farm could generate the equivalent energy to Wylfa rendering a new nuclear power station unnecessarily. The marine currents just alongside the power station are amongst the strongest around Britain's coast. Construction is to begin on a 10.5MW project, expected to be commissioned around 2011/2012.

The pioneering project is a joint initiative with Marine Current Turbines and npower. Marine Current Turbines has successfully installed the world's first megawatt-scale tidal turbine, a 1.2MW SeaGen tidal energy system, in Strangford Narrows, Northern Ireland in May. It should start regularly feeding power into the Northern Ireland grid in August.



Martin Wright, Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines said: "This has been a ground-breaking operation, the like of which has never been attempted before and it has attracted interest from around the world. SeaGen's installation has been filmed by TV crews from North America, Germany and France as well as from Ireland and the UK." When fully operational the tidal system's 16m diameter, twin rotors will operate for up to 18-20 hours per day.

These turbines are modular, so if these installations are successful more may be added later, spreading the cost, unlike with tidal barrages or nuclear power stations.

Tide turns for sea power

Using tidal stream (ocean current) and tidal range technology the UK could supply at least 10% of its electricity (around 5% from each).

The Sustainable Development Commission has just published its long-awaited report on tidal power and this is its conclusion.

It says: "Such a substantial prize deserves very close attention as part of much wider action aimed at tackling the twin challenges of climate change and energy security", the goals of the Energy White Paper.

It says a barrage in the Severn Estuary could supply 4.4% of the above total (17TWh), generating electricity for over 120 years.

This is certainly four times longer than a nuclear power station.

But to mitigate its efects on the environment, they say it should:

• be publicly led as a project and publicly owned as an asset to avoid short-termist decisions and ensure the long-term public interest

• be fully compliant with European Directives on habitats and birds and with a long-term commitment to creating compensatory habitats on an unprecedented scale

• investigate a habitat creation that addresses the impacts of climate change over the long term.

The best tidal stream sites are in the north of Scotland, with significant potential also around north Wales (Anglesey where it could replace the power lost by the closure of Wylfa nuclear power station with marine current turbines), Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands.

The tidal range resource is concentrated in the estuaries off the west coast of Britain, including the Severn, the Mersey and the Humber.

The UK is leading the world in the development of a wide range of tidal stream devices, several of which are at the testing stage. The UK must ‘stay the course’ in developing these technologies, as the export and climate change benefits are potentially very large.

Despite the encouraging progress made so far, Government could do more to assist these emerging technologies, particularly through flexible financial support, and by providing additional resources to the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.

On tidal lagoons, the SDC found that there is a lack of available evidence on the costs and environmental impacts, mainly due to the absence of any practical experience. We have called on Government to support the development of one or more demonstration project, which would help provide real-life data on their economic and environmental viability.

> Tidal Power report