Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 12Th - 18Th MAY 2017 | 11 Generation Review Tidal resources around The uK installed turbine was operating. The project, run by Tidal Power Scotland and Scottish Enterprise with a lease from the Crown Estate, is a three-stage development that starts with the installation of four 1.5MW turbines and is expected to end up with 269 turbines with an overall capacity of 398MW. Like Tidal Lagoon Power, the project part- ners behind MeyGen – which includes tidal energy specialist Atlantis Resources – expect the costs, and therefore the funding from the public purse, to drop significantly as the project progresses and industrial activity increases. Breeding growth But despite the potential, it is still uncertain whether tidal power will go on to become a major player in the UK's energy market. Although the Hendry review concludes with strong and broad support for both the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon and the indus- try as a whole, it has been more than four months since it was published and there has still been little indication of the govern- ment's thoughts on the issue. Shadow secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy, Rebecca Long Bai- ley visited the site in Swansea and called for quick action to be taken: "We have a really big sector we can build. This project needs to see a sign-off soon." But prime minister Theresa May appeared to avoid the issue on a recent visit to Wales. When pressed on the matter she could offer only that the report was still being reviewed. May now has a further stalling tactic in the shape of the snap general election which will certainly push a government response on the future role of tidal power in the UK back into the autumn. The delay does not bode well for Swan- sea Bay's proposed timeline, which targets 2018 for the start of construction. Competing technologies More broadly, the issue that must be addressed is whether or not the successes of bringing down costs in other renewable technologies that have been tried, tested and developed at scale work in favour of tidal power or against it. Those who support tidal power argue that the cost reductions achieved in little over a decade of offshore wind show that capitalis- ing on the UK's tidal resources can quickly bring it in line with other renewables and therefore make it worth the investment. On the other hand, those who oppose it argue that with offshore wind and others already competing with older methods of generation, there is little need to attempt to do the same again with a new technology when funds could be pooled into technolo- gies that are already competing. All that is known though, is that if it is to be progressed, support for tidal generation must be as stable and reliable in the long term as the tides on which it will be built. Spring peak flow > 4.00 (m/s) 3.51-4.00 3.01-3.50 2.51-3.00 2.01-2.50 1.76-2.00 1.51-1.75 1.26-1.50 1.01-1.25 0.76-1.00 0.51-0.75 0.26-0.50 0.11-0.25 <0.11 (m/s) km 0 150 300 Pentland Firth spring peak flow > 5.00 (m/s) 4.51-5.00 4.01-4.50 3.51-4.00 3.01-3.50 2.51-3.00 2.01-2.50 1.76-2.00 1.51-1.75 1.26-1.50 1.01-1.25 0.76-1.00 0.51-0.75 0.26-0.50 0.11-0.25 0.01-0.10 (m/s) UK continental shelf UKCS Pentland Firth strategic area Pentland Firth strategic area Case study MeyGen tidal energy project T he 3.5km 2 site just off the north coast of Scotland was identified by Atlantis – which owns 86 per cent of MeyGen – as a suitable location for a tidal stream array because of the channel created by the uninhabited island of Stroma just north of the site providing strong currents. In 2010, as part of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters leasing round, The Crown Estate awarded an agreement for lease to MeyGen, granting the option to develop a tidal stream project with a capacity of up to 398MW. In September 2014, a power purchase agreement potentially worth £50 million over ten years was signed with Smartest Energy for the first phase of the project. Construction began in January 2015, with the first turbine being installed and exporting power to the grid in February this year. A further four phases of work are planned. Currently under way and set to add 6MW of capacity to the existing 6MW is phase 1B – also known as Demotide or Project Stroma. The second round of work also benefitted from a £17.6 million grant from the European Commission to help prove the technical and commercial viability of tidal array technology. The £420 million phase 1C is expected to start in 2019. Phase 2 will bring the installed capac- ity up to 252MW and up to the current grid connection limit. The final phase, which will add 146MW, will follow a—erwards once this has been upgraded. Atlantis chief executive Tim Cornelius has been driving the project forward and is insistent that tidal technology – which has an estimated strike price of around £168/MWh – can become competitive on price with other renewables. "This project will help the tidal stream industry demonstrate reductions in the price per unit of electricity by increasing the energy yield per pound of investment. Demotide will set tidal on a path to cost parity with offshore wind by 2020." MeyGen in nuMbers Potential generating capacity of the completed project 398MW Number of phases it will take to fully install all the turbines 5 Capacity of the tidal turbines being used in the project 1.5MW When the final turbine in phase 1A was installed 20 Feb 2017 When the first power from phase 1B is due to be generated 2018 When construction of phase 1C is set to begin 2019 The cost of phase 1C £420m Speed of currents at the Pentland Firth site 11mph

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