The Rising Tide: recent global developments in marine renewable energy

The potential of harnessing the waves and tides of the seas to generate electricity continues to drive advancements in the fledgling marine renewable energy (MRE) industry. In spite of the tough investment climate, the sector continues to grow as technologies edge closer to commercial viability. In recent months, a number of high-profile deals, device deployments and new project proposals have added to the anticipation that the industry can make a significant contribution to a clean energy future.

In business news, Alstom UK has agreed to acquire Tidal Generation Limited (TGL), a Rolls-Royce subsidiary, which designs and manufacturers tidal stream turbines. In partnership with the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), TGL is developing a next generation 1MW tidal stream turbine. This follows the acquisition last year of Marine Current Turbines (MCT) by Siemens. MCTs SeaGen device itself recently passed the 5GWh of generation mark, roughly equivalent to the annual usage of 1,500 British households.

Projects continue to press ahead: the first grid-connected tidal power project in the US (180kW) is now delivering electricity to the grid in Maine, while north of the border in Canada the government of Nova Scotia approved a 500 kW tidal stream project developed by Fundy Tidal.

In India MRE has found a new driver following the recent historic power outages. Israeli firm SDE has plans to deploy its devices there, where it says they can provide electricity at half the cost of coal or oil plants in some areas. SDE is also working on small projects in China and has 11 joint venture agreements worldwide in countries as diverse as Chile and Tanzania.

Japan is also now looking to its extensive coastline as a potential source of energy following the Fukushima incident, and a consortium including Toshiba and the University of Tokyo have been working on creating a bi-directional tidal turbine which could provide 2MW of baseload energy.

Elsewhere, companies are thinking big, with the Netherlands and China agreeing investigate a novel form of tidal energy conversion to develop a huge 13GW plant, which would be by far the world’s largest. South Korea plans to build a new 200MW tidal-energy plant on the southern tip of the peninsula in Jindo by 2016, drawing on its experience with its Siwha tidal plant, which recently began operation.

Down under, Australia has started to get serious about MRE. The countries scientific research body, CSIRO, recently announced that energy from the ocean could supply 11% of Australia’s demand by 2050, enough to power a city the size of Melbourne, the country’s second largest. In Darwin in the north, the Power and Water Corporation have signed an MOU with local company and Tenax Energy to develop a 2MW tidal energy plant and the Tropical Tidal Energy Testing Centre (T3C). The T3C would be the region’s first tidal energy testing centre and the world’s first in a tropical climate.

Alongside the good news stories, there have also been some setbacks. Weather issues have delayed final testing of Ocean Power Technologies’ PowerBuoy in the US. The PowerBuoy is the first of up to 10 devices licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to be connected to the grid in Reedsport, 300 miles from Portland, Oregon. The 1.5MW project will ultimately generate enough electricity to power about 1,000 homes.

In Scotland, a long awaited review of transmission charging has been a letdown for MRE developers, who will now face ‘massive costs’ to connect their projects to the grid and take the electricity from the remote Orkney Islands in the country’s north to more populous regions. Scottish Renewables have said that the high costs threaten the economic viability of MRE projects, in a region considered to be the world leader.

Plans to develop test sites are also progressing rapidly, driven by the European Marine Energy Centre. EMEC has entered into memorandums of understanding with the Ocean Energy Association of Japan, Ocean University China and Incheon Metropolitan City in South Korea to offer their expertise in creating new test sites. EMEC also has a strategic agreement with Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy in Canada and has been asked by the Oregon Wave Energy Trust to help it set up the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC). Elsewhere in the US the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center has deployed its ‘Ocean Sentinel’ testing platform, while a test centre is also on the horizon in Hawaii.

All in all, this is a very exciting time for a growing sector that holds much promise.