Mixed mood at WATTS 2007

Off shore wind and marine project update

28 renewable energy focus November/December 2007

GEORGE MARSH REPORTS BACK FROM THE RENEWABLE

ENERGY ASSOCIATION’S WIND & TIDAL TECHNOLOGY

SYMPOSIUM WATTS 2007 AT COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT, AND

ADAM WESTWOOD BRINGS RENEWABLE ENERGY FOCUS

THE LATEST PROJECT DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE OFFSHORE

WIND AND MARINE SECTOR.

An air of slight despondency seemed to

pervade the Renewable Energy Associa-

tion’s Wind & Tidal Technology Symposium

(WATTS) 2007 at Cowes, Isle of Wight in

September. Delegates were dismayed that

not more has happened to harness this abun-

dant source of energy, especially in the UK

which is particularly resource rich. This was

due, it was held, to shortcomings in Govern-

ment policy, lack of seed funding, the

prevailing investment pull of wind, and an

evident Government pre-occupation with

nuclear energy.

The drive for supportive policy

Indeed, much of the symposium was about

expressing policy concerns and future aspira-

tions, rather than an exposition of technology.

And not even the palatial surroundings of

Northwood House, Cowes, on a glorious late-

summer’s day could fully off set the downbeat

atmosphere.

Sue Kearns, head of the Renewable Energy

Scottish Executive, had a good try however,

citing Scotland’s £30m support for wave and

tidal power, including its EMEC, Orkney,

facility where several technologies are now

being further developed and evaluated. Long-

term support for renewables, said Kearns,

came in the form of Renewable Obligations

Scotland (though there was a feeling that

Feed-in-Tariffs – FiTs – would be preferable).

In a later Q&A, one delegate questioned the

level of Scotland’s support given its good

fortune in having a quarter of Europe’s entire

marine renewable resource, with a potential of

2 GW of generation by 2020.

Greater scorn was reserved for Westminster,

though, and the UK Government’s equivocal

stance on wind and tidal technology (WATT).

Professor Catherine Mitchell of Exeter University

thought that the UK had, on present trends,

little chance of playing its full part in meeting

Europe’s ambitious, but necessary, targets for

carbon reduction and energy saving. She

thought that Britain was about 1% below its

obligations already (and was cross that the

country’s renewable heat uptake was actually

falling rather than increasing).

The country was also likely, the professor

thought, to fall short of the targets, themselves

not ambitious, set out in the Government’s 2007

Energy White Paper.

Stephanie Merry, outlining marine initiatives in

Wales, pointed out that global marine energy

resources were theoretically equal to all of the

world’s energy consumption in the year 2000.

Practically, resources around the UK could satisfy a

sixth of that country’s energy requirement – the

UK and France between them have 80% of

Europe’s tidal resource for example. Merry believed

that the total 2.5 MW provided by devices in the

water now, should be multiplied 1000-fold in 12

years if the country is serious about carbon-free

energy. Scale could range from micro-generation

– small DIY turbines, turbines on buoys, bridges

etc. – through mid-scale energy installations for

waterfront developments; to full tidal installations

such as the Severn Barrage. The UK would need

to exploit energy at all three scales, said Merry,

and there was a long way to go.

Ron Loveland for the Welsh Assembly outlined

the country’s WATT achievements to date, and

mentioned the Port Dinorwic pumped storage

facility, which is capable of ramping up from zero

to 2 GW in only 8 seconds, and the UK’s fi rst

commercial off shore wind farm at North Hoyle.

Eric Sweeney of the Irish Maritime Institute

spoke of a growing marine technology focus in

Ireland, and a target of 500 MW generated from

ocean energy by 2020.

Anna Gigantino, head of Ocean Energy at the

European Union’s Directorate General, Energy

and Transport (DG TREN), said that the EU has

provided €40 million since 1995 for marine energy,

as though something under €3.3 m per year was

more than a drop in the ocean (sic).

However, she did invite applications for research

grants and loans under EU Framework 7, covering

the period 2007-2013. Sean O’Neil from the Ocean

Renewable Energy Commission (OREC) in the

Mixed mood at WATTS 2007

George Marsh

Continued on page 30

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renewable energy focus November/December 2007 29

Marine and off shore wind and marine project updatewind

Siemens has won the order to supply turbines for

the UK’s Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm. In

the largest offshore contract yet placed, Siemens will

supply 140, 3.6 MW turbines to developers Airtricity

and Fluor – for delivery in 2009 and 2010. The project

is timetabled to begin construction in summer 2009,

with completion by the end of 2010.

The award raises questions for other developers of large

off shore wind projects with similar construction timetables,

most obviously the 1 GW London Array development.

Widely believed to be targeting Siemens for turbines,

this award certainly puts pressure on this choice under

its present construction schedule. Nysted II off Denmark

is another project with a similar schedule. Construction

assets are expected to be extremely constrained around

the turn of the decade, with dominating market leader

A2Sea being the choice turbine installer. There will be

fi erce competition for its fl eet of three vessels.

40% of the Greater Gabbard project has been put up for

sale by Fluor. It should prove an attractive purchase with

turbine supply confi rmed. Flour will retain 10% interest

in the project and will remain the EPC contractor.

Three projects under joint development by Shell and

Nuon, totalling over 750 MW of capacity, were refused

permission off the Netherlands over concerns about

shipping safety. The three projects, Katwijk, Ijumiden

and Den Haag II, had been granted initial sanction to

progress. There are concerns that other projects may

also be affected, as it was assumed the areas chosen

for offshore wind deployment had been screened for

potential shipping concerns. This puts a major dent

into the next phase of offshore wind development off

the Netherlands, where the first two major projects

have just been built.

marine

Planning permission has been approved for the UK’s

£28m Wave Hub off Cornwall. The Wave Hub, under

development by the South West of England Regional

Development Agency (SWRDA), includes an onshore

substation connected to electrical equipment on the

seabed, about 16 kilometres offshore via a sub-sea

cable. The project will allow wave energy developers

to install, test and operate individual or small-arrays

of their devices at the 8 km2 site. Each wave device

developer will be granted a lease of between five and

10 years in an area of two square kilometres. Water

depth at the site is approximately 50 metres.

Construction contracts are due to be awarded early next

year. Four diff erent wave energy technologies will be

installed in the fi rst phase, with the fi rst devices planned to

be in the water in 2009. The four developers are Oceanlinx

(formerly Energetech), Ocean Power Technologies, Fred

Olsen and WestWave (a consortium of Eon and Ocean

Prospect using devices from Pelamis Wave Power).

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory

Reform (DEFRA) has committed £4.5 million towards the

cost, and the SWRDA has already invested in excess of £2

million to get the project to this stage. In April the Regional

Development Agency (RDA) approved £21.5 million of

funding for Wave Hub. Half of this is expected to come

from the European Regional Development Fund through

the Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of

Scilly.

There has been renewed interest in the controversial

8,640 MW Severn barrage. If built, the project in the

Severn Estuary between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare

could supply around 5% of the UK’s energy needs.

Secretary of State for Business, John Hutton, launched a

wide-ranging feasibility study into the project in September,

ahead of a report from the Sustainable Development

Commission, which recommended further investigation.

Major studies have previously been carried out in 1989 and

more recently in 2002. The 2002 study predicted capital

costs of £10-£14 billion. The project is hugely controversial

environmentally, with the Severn Estuary being one of the

most important sites in the UK for water birds. The estuary

contains mudfl ats, salt marshes, rocky islands and food

that supports some 65,000 birds in winter.

The report by the Sustainable Development Commission

– issued in October – said that there was a strong case

for the barrage, but that its support would be conditional

upon wider and stronger action on climate change.

Adam Westwood



30 renewable energy focus November/December 2007

USA, took the view that the situation in America

is worse than in the UK and Europe, with the

fl awed consent-permitting process being the

greatest barrier to progress. OREC was formed

four years ago to bring together interests to help

drive change. O’Neill did see signs of hope in

growing support for renewables though, both at

State level and in Washington.

David Fryer from Isle of Wight consultancy MTMC

(a sponsor of WATTS 2007) suggested that

following the lead of the oil sector, the industry

could help itself through joint industry projects

(JIPs). JIPs typically involve several companies,

possibly including competitors, coming together

to fi nd solutions to common problems.

Technology

Hard technologies discussed ranged from small-

scale systems, to the major tidal barrage on the

River Rance in France. Outlining experience with

this four-decade old facility, Cyrille Perier of EDF

France said that the opening of the world’s

“largest marine renewable energy facility” came

about only after 20 years of study and fi ve years

of construction.

Two dozen 10 MW hydro-electric generators

exploiting the 13.5 m tidal range in the Rance

Estuary provide enough clean electricity to

power a town of 230,000 people. The scheme

works well, and the associated large inland lake

has created, according to Perrier, a rich and

diverse habitat for wildlife (Severn Barrage inter-

ests please note).

Max Carcas for Pelamis Ltd (formerly Ocean

Power Delivery) told delegates that Pelamis

machines in Orkney and Portugal are now gener-

ating up to 750 kW between them. The three

machines in Portugal (see image on page 29) are a

more advanced model that can operate in signifi -

cant wave heights of up to 2.5 m. All are now fully

in place, complete with connections, sub-stations

etc, and providing power through Utility EnerSys.

Carcas’ main theme, though, was that more

action needs to be taken by Government if the

UK is to benefi t from the presence of enough

energy round its coasts to meet the country’s

power needs three times over.

Peter Fraenkel of Marine Current Turbines Ltd

(MCT) spoke of current eff orts to scale up MCT’s

SeaGen technology (pictured above), since devices

need to be 1 MW-plus to be viable. Fraenkel had

great hopes for the 1.2 MW SeaGen device going

into Strangford Lock, Northern Ireland.

But he cautioned against an expectation of quick

results from marine renewable energy, reminding

delegates that it took 25 years for the wind

energy sector to progress from early diverse

small windmill designs to today’s standard hori-

zontal-axis solutions – in multi-MW sizes. A new

twin-rotor SeaGen has good potential in high-

energy sites and could deliver 10 MW at costs

“not a million miles” from those now pertaining

to off shore wind, declared Fraenkel.

The topic of grid connection was aired by George

Gibberd, Tidal Generation Ltd, and Paul Birkin-

shaw of Econnect. Pointing to typical £150,000

to £250,000 per MW costs to connect off shore

wind, they indicated that similar levels of cost –

greater in strong tidal areas – could be expected

for marine renewable installations.

Hans Sorensen, director of Wave Dragon,

reported that, with over four years of experience

with a prototype off the north west Denmark, it

seems that the Wave Dragon devices can produce

up to 20% more power than was fi rst expected.

Consent was awaited, he said, for an installation

off Milford Haven.

Alan Owen from Robert Gordon University

gave details of Sea Snail, a proposed structure

that uses hydrodynamic forces to keep marine

renewable installations in position over the

seabed, with consequent savings in construction,

seabed disturbance and craneage.

Chris Jenner from the Renewable RPS Group

failed to cheer any would-be developers present

by listing acts, regulations and licensing require-

ments they will have to contend with in seeking

consents. Southampton University’s Dr Steve

Turnock advocated keeping electromechanical

devices simple, if they are to endure the highly

aggressive marine environment, even at the

expense of sacrifi cing the “last point or two” of

effi ciency.

Nick Kitson of ABP Marine Environmental

Research Ltd referred to a forthcoming publica-

tion – Guidelines for Marine Renewables – that

would bring much of the information that is

currently scattered around into a unifi ed single

source constituting a useful reference for all

stakeholders.

Martin Wright, the REA’s able and trenchant

chairman for a substantial part of the day,

implied in his closing remarks that quality of

vision may be somewhat lacking in policy

circles at present and asked rhetorically,

“judging by what is being done at present, do

we truly believe that climate change is a real

threat?”

Among those present at WATTS 2007 were Max Carcas of

Pelamis Ltd (formerly Ocean Power Delivery), and Peter

Fraenkel of Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT) – responsible

for the Pelamis and SeaGen technologies respectively

(pictured on page 29, and opposite)

Continued from page 28

About the Authors:George Marsh is a correspondent for renewable energy focus;

Adam Westwood is renewable energy manager at Douglas-Westwood Ltd.


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Mixed mood at WATTS 2007