Tuesday 29 December 2020

THE CASE FOR MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

 


 

 

THE CASE FOR RENEWABLE MARINE ENERGY

When the dust has settled, following the UK electorate’s choice to step away from the EU, our country will still be trading with Europe and also with much of the rest of the world.

One of the greatest challenges for the UK, now and into the future, will be to source and supply sufficient quantities of energy -for domestic and commercial purposes and for the motive power that presently comes in the form of petroleum and diesel. With the exception of a few nuclear power plants and a small number of Hydro and Wind units (for sustainable supplies), almost all the UK’s energy is provided by forms of fossil fuel(mainly imported)or by means of subsea cables and pipework -types of supply that involve very high costs. Furthermore, there is no official prioritisation of the supply options and the industry suffers from a complete absence of storage methods and facilities for electricity.

The UK’s new Prime Minister can seize this opportunity to take the country forward towards a totally self-sufficient energy system - one that the nation will own and control for perpetuity.

Solar power and wind power are already being exploited in the UK, but neither of those renewable resources is predictable and constant -unlike the movement of the water as the tides come and go with the reliability of the moon. For that precise reason, projects such as the Severn Barrage and the Swansea Bay Lagoon have been under consideration for a number of years. However, such developments can be carried out at specific locations only, so tidal stream power - a completely different concept -is far more beneficial and could, in fact, form the basis of the supply of energy for the whole of our country, as the technology involved can be used to generate electricity from the flow of the water at most places around the coast and out in the open sea.

Most importantly, the UK has the world’s best tidal stream resources, combined with the second-largest tidal range (exceeded only in parts of Canada). In addition, our seas have some of the greatest and most consistent wave patterns in the world -perfectly capable of augmenting the vast amounts of offshore wind resources that are already beginning to be exploited.

Water is far heavier than many people realise and the immense power of flowing water can easily be appreciated by anyone who observes the destruction that is often caused by floods in various areas of the world. It has even been suggested that there is enough power in the tides and the waves to satisfy the entire worldwide demand for energy.

The previous Energy Ministers seemed to have had little or no understanding of the potential of those three Renewable Marine Energy sources (tidal, wave and wind power), preferring instead to promote the high-carbon pursuit of gas and oil through onshore fracking. The UK already has the technology needed to exploit those renewable resources and, in addition to benefit the country’s economy, it can be utilised to assist the whole world in its battle against global warming.

With a new team of ministers in place, it is to be hoped that an innovative forward-looking program can be formulated and implemented by the UK government- so that the nation might eventually have not only a totally carbon-free energy system for all purposes but one that would render the nation’s supply independent of any outside restrictions or interference.

HOW WILL THAT OBJECTIVE BE ACHIEVED?

First and foremost,a new government department needs to be established - the Department of Energy Research and Resources (DERR) - with the authority to initiate university-based research into the design and construction of offshore Energy Stations. Besides creating state-funded pilot projects, such an approach would encourage private companies to begin their own research into similar ventures.

The purpose of such research will be to develop a system that will channel the power output from the three Renewable Marine Energy resources to a shared Marine Energy Station (MES) at which the combined energy will be converted to electricity that can then be sent ashore. Research will also be required to discover the most efficient method of using the electricity at the MES to produce liquid hydrogen that can easily be shipped ashore to coastal power stations and to depots supplying transport systems. Hydrogen gas can be obtained from water and it can then be liquefied by means of high pressure and extreme chilling.

The production of liquefied gas is already an established industry in the UK. and the Aberdeen Hydrogen Bus Project has recently been launched to demonstrate the production of liquid hydrogen and the operation of a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses and its refuelling station.

The supply networks (National Grid etc.) for both Gas and Electricity will need to be upgraded and modified in order to manage the distribution of the energy obtained from those offshore renewable power sources.

The new DERR will incorporate a ‘panel of experts’ from the North Sea Oil and Gas industries, the various offshore support industries and the commercial fishing industry, all of whom will have a thorough understanding of the challenges involved in working in the marine environment.

As tidal stream flows are constant and predictable, Marine Energy Stations can be installed at suitable locations spaced evenly around the coast - and almost anywhere within the many thousands of square kilometres of the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone. For maximum power output, each MES will be located at a spot that has the most advantageous tidal flows in the chosen area and it will be surrounded with numerous wave power devices and wind turbines. In addition to processing the energy produced, the central rig will provide accommodation for operational and maintenance staff.

The financial expenditure involved in building a Renewable Marine Energy supply system for the whole of the UK would be very acceptable when compared with the estimated costs of the planned tidal lagoons and Hinkley Point nuclear power station. Furthermore, the implementation of such a project would put the UK at the forefront of the fossil-fuel-free renewable energy world.As other countries make rapid progress in developing forms of renewable energy that suit their specific environments and circumstances, the UK simply cannot afford to be left behind.



Personal view from

Paul Hales

Director

Hales Water Turbines Ltd

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