New investment to focus on finding innovative and cost-effective ways to install and maintain large-scale offshore devices
The Carbon Trust's Marine Accelerator Programme is to support Marine Current Turbines (MCT) in its work to accelerate the commercial development of its tidal technology in the UK. The Carbon Trust is providing £150,000 to MCT for a feasibility study on its foundations technology. The MCT technology is likely to be tested in a disused quarry, and if it performs as expected will be used in SeaGen's next deployment off Anglesey where the company is working with RWE npower renewables to deploy a 10MW tidal farm, using seven SeaGens.
Mark Williamson, Director of Innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: "Innovation in the deployment and maintenance of wave and tidal devices will be critical in cutting the cost of marine energy and unlocking the potential of this fantastic renewable energy resource. If we can bring down the costs of deploying these technologies, we will be able to generate marine energy on a scale that will help meet our 2020 renewable target and deliver significant economic value as well."
Martin Wright, Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines, said: "The Carbon Trust's support is of great value to Marine Current Turbines and will help us to build upon our success with our first SeaGen commercial tidal turbine project in Northern Ireland's Strangford Lough, which is generating power into the local grid."
"Their participation in this project has enabled us to look at how we can install farms of our SeaGen tidal energy systems more efficiently and at less cost in the future. The Carbon Trust's part-funding of the project underlines the commercial potential that exists for MCT's pioneering tidal energy technology to be deployed in UK waters as well as overseas."
Ends
Notes to editors
For more information or an interview please call the Carbon Trust press office on 0207 544 3100.
The Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is an independent company set up in 2001 by Government in response to the threat of climate change, to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies.
We cut carbon emissions now by providing business and the public sector with expert advice, finance and certification to help them reduce their carbon footprint and to stimulate demand for low carbon products and services. Through our work, we've already helped save over 17 million tonnes of carbon, delivering costs savings of over £1billion.
We cut future carbon emissions by developing new low carbon technologies. We do this through project funding and management, investment and collaboration and by identifying market barriers and practical ways to overcome them. Our work on commercialising new technologies will save over 20 million tonnes of carbon a year by 2050.
Marine Current Turbines Ltd
1. Marine Current Turbines Ltd (http://www.marineturbines.com/) is based in Bristol, England. The company was established in 2000 and its principal corporate shareholders include BankInvest, ESB International, EDF Energy, Guernsey Electricity and Triodos Bank. In September 2009, MCT was ranked in Cleantech Group Global Cleantech 100 and in June 2009 won Renewable Energy Developer of the Year in the UK Renewable Energy Association Annual Awards.
2. SeaGen works by generating power from sea currents, using a pair of axial flow turbines driving generators through gearboxes using similar principles to wind generator technology. The main difference is that the high density of seawater compared to wind allows a much smaller system; SeaGen has twin 600kW turbines each of 16m diameter. The capture of kinetic energy from a water current, much like with wind energy or solar energy, depends on how many square meters of flow cross-section can be addressed by the system. With water current turbines it is rotor swept area that dictates energy capture capability, because it is the cross section of flow that is intercepted which matters. SeaGen has over 400 square meters of rotor area which is why it can develop its full rated power of 1.2MW in a flow of 2.4m/s (5 knots).
For further information:
Martin Wright, Managing Director,
T: +44 (0)117 979 1888
or
Paul Taylor, Taylor Keogh Communications
T: +44 (0) 203 170 8465 / DDI: +44 (0)203 170 8466
M: +44 (0)7966 782611
E: paul@taylorkeogh.com
W: http://www.taylorkeogh.com