An infrastructure investor is to sink funds into a the largest tidal energy scheme in the world, whose initial phase is currently under construction between Orkney and Scotland’s north coast
Equitix, a fund manager which invests in infrastructure projects, is to work with tidal power specialist Atlantis on a series of projects in Scotland, including the MeyGen scheme, currently under construction in the Pentland Firth, the channel between Orkney and the Scottish mainland characterised by extremely powerful tidal flows between the Atlantic to the west and the North Sea to the east. The funds Equitix plans to devote to Atlantis projects is believed to total some £100million over the next two years.
Under the terms of the partnership, Equitix will acquire a quarter-share in all of Atlantis’s Scottish projects at their financial close. It will work with Atlantis to prepare the projects for construction capital. “This agreement with Equitix, a leading infrastructure investment specialist, is an important step for us in engaging a partner with both vital experience of large infrastructure projects and access to extensive capital, coupled with a desire to work with us to accelerate the further development of the UK’s tidal power industry,” said Tim Cornelius, chief executive of Atlantis . “We are very excited to be working with Equitix on a range of fronts.”
The MeyGen project is currently in its first phase. Costing some £51million, this involves placing four 1.5MW tidal turbines into the fast-flowing waters of the Firth, three of which have been built by Adritz Hydro Hammerfest in Germany and one by Lockheed Martin in Scotland. Atlantis hopes to complete securing £45m-50m of financing for the second phase of the project later this year, and has a lease on enough space in the Firth for 398MW of generating capacity. Phase 1 is scheduled to begin generating power for the grid this year. It is also working on a similar-sized project in the western Sound of Islay.
Unfortunately, on opening this page I thought that the pink photo was a pig. I keep seeing pigs flying past my window alongside the white-elephants so beloved of the Carbon reduction lobby.
Perhaps that was an omen. It does appear that any scheme can gain support (provided that the support is not too large of course), but usually we never hear again about them. Let’s hope that this is not another of the white elephants that are used to cover-up the serious and possibly terminal power problem that the UK now has.
Also, why is all the technology being imported: have we given up on UK innovations?
It seems so obvious to me to cancel HS2 so there could be funds available to build enough tidal power schemes. We know the green activists will oppose tidal barriers, etc on the grounds of spoiling of wildlife habitats.
Even so, there must be a balanced approach as all environmentalists will not be oblivious to the certain destruction of those habitats should global warming occur as is predicted.
There must be a strong case to curtail further atmospheric and visual (windfarms) pollution in favour of proper renewable energy schemes that should be reliable, provide transport links across estuaries and enhanced recreational facilities. Win Win Win.
Needless to say all the money should be spent within the UK – I wish!
In the mainstream hydropower industry, it is recognised that it is uneconomic to develop hydropower on a river if the head is less than about 2 m even though the flow is steady and unidirectional. This is because turbines that can handle huge flows at low head are very expensive.
Tidal stream power uses an effective head of about 250 mm, operates in a bidirectional flow and has huge problems with marine fouling and maintenance.
Tidal stream power only exists because of massive subsidies decreed by misguided governments who, quite wrongly, believe it can make a substantial difference to carbon dioxide emissions. It can’t.
The cost of the subsidies is carried by all electricity consumers, who, without any say in the matter, are forced to subsidise those rich enough to invest in uneconomic projects that are only profitable because of the huge subsidies. It is nothing short of disgraceful.
If, in a world that is not warming, you want to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, nuclear power is, by far, the cheapest and safest method of doing so.
For a seven point summary of the “Beauties of Tide” refer to page 86 of Professor David MacKay’s acclaimed book “Sustainable Energy without the hot air” which is free to download at http://www.withouthotair.com