by Dropped in about 40 meters (44 meters) of water off the coast of Scotland, a turbine has been running for more than six years to use the power of ocean tides for electricity – a sustainability mark that demonstrates the commercial viability of the technology.
Maintaining a large or grid scale, turbine in place in the hard sea environment that is a record for a long time that helps the road for larger tidal energy farms and makes it much more attractive for investors, according to the Trade Association Ocean Energy Europe. Tides energy projects would be priceless if the turbines had to be removed from the water every few years for maintenance.
Tidal Energy Technologies are still in the early days of their commercial development, but their potential for generating clean energy is great. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Marine Energy, a term researchers who are used to refer to electricity that is generated from tides, currents, waves or temperature changes, the world’s largest resources for renewable energy sources.
MEYPYGEN TIDAL ENERGY PROJECT OF THE COAST OF SCHOTLAND has four turbines that each produces 1.5 megawatts, together enough electricity to feed a maximum of 7,000 houses annually. On Thursday, the Swedish company SKF announced that his bearings and seals on one of the turbines had passed the 6 1/2-year-old Mark without the need for not planned or disruptive maintenance. It has been working closely with the industry for design and testing for ten years.
Reaching six years in the water with constant operations is a “very important milestone” that is a good omen for the future of tidal energy, said Rémi Gruet, CEO of Ocean Energy Europe.
Scotland and the United Kingdom are world leaders in tidal energy. The Mygen site, managed by Sae Renewables, has been sending electricity to the grid for about eight years.
There are very few tidal energy projects that continuously generate electricity. Most have been tests and demonstrations, said Andrea Copping, an expert in the development of renewable energy in the navy. Copping said that there are still major obstacles to overcome before tidal energy can be adopted more broadly, such as dealing with regulatory issues, potential environmental effects and conflicts with other ocean users.
Nevertheless, the Scotland project seems to have dealt with the question of whether the turbines in seawater can last, Copping, a leading faculty of Fellow, added to the school for marine and environmental matters at the University of Washington.
“I think they have checked the boxes,” she said. “Because skeptics, and that includes investors of course and governments, said:” How on earth are you going to use these things in this very heavy environment for all the time? ” And that is what I think they have proven. “
It is very difficult to take what is essentially a wind turbine that is normally found on the land and to place it under water, said Fraser Johnson, Operations and Maintenance Manager at Meygen. The turbine for records has to continue for at least another year before it has to get out of the water for maintenance, he added.
The four turbines are known for strong tidal streams in the inner sound of the Pentland Firth, a narrow channel between the Scottish mainland and Stroma Island. Tides Energy systems need strong flows to make electricity efficient. Meygen is planning to add 20 turbines in 2030 to produce more electricity after the required upgrades to the electricity grid are completed. The site could ultimately contain no fewer than 130 turbines that are more powerful than those on the site today.
The Mygen site is in the open water, while another type of tidal project includes creating a vomit-like structure called a barrage over tidal waters. With four turbines, Meypgen is considered the largest tidal energy project of its kind worldwide, said Johnson.
“It’s a title that we don’t want we didn’t have. We want more, we want others,” he said. “Unfortunately, others have difficulty achieving what Meygen has achieved. But together with SKF we will continue, we will help the industry ahead.”
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