New York gets Tidal Power

From Green Business
Start spreading the news, New York could see a tidal energy array deployed in the East River by the end of next year, after the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) awarded its first pilot project license for a tidal energy project to developer Verdant Power Inc.
The company confirmed yesterday that it has been granted a 10 year license that will allow it to "demonstrate the commercial viability" of its tidal stream turbine technology.

The project, known as the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project, will boast 1,050-kilowatts of capacity provided by a series of tidal turbines deployed on the bed of the East River.
Trey Taylor, co-founder and president of Verdant Power, told news agency Bloomberg that the company will now aim to deploy five turbines at the site by the end of next year, with a further 30 generators scheduled to be installed by 2015.
Under the terms of the pilot license, the company will undertake an environmental analysis to measure the impact of the project on local habitats and wildlife. If the project proves to have minimal impact the company will then be able to apply for a longer commercial license, allowing it to sell power to local utilities.
FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff hailed the project as a leap forward for tidal energy technologies in the US.
"Issuing a pilot license for an innovative technology is a major step in the effort to help our country meet our renewable energy goals," he said in a statement. "FERC's pilot process is doing what it should: allow for exploration of new renewable technologies while protecting the environment."
The project could prove to be the first in a wave of new marine energy projects in the US. FERC said that it had already issued 100 preliminary permits allowing firms to study the feasibility of developing specific projects, while another nine organisations are in the pre-filing stages of developing license applications, and three have filed license applications that are currently being considered.

The SW gets Tidal & Wave energy

From Green Energy

Greg Barker to name region as the first of a series of parks designed to acclerate development of wave and tidal technology

A huge area running from Bristol to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will today be named as the UK's first designated zone for the development of marine energy.

Climate change minister Greg Baker will announce the South West Marine Energy Park (MEP) and launch a prospectus outlining how the public and private sectors will work together on the project during a visit to Bristol.

The prospectus says the South West MEP will make it a priority to secure additional incentives for business investment including, business rate reductions, higher levels of capital allowances, Regional Growth Fund and other enterprise grants, inward investment, and access to the Green Investment Bank.

It will also look to coordinate port and infrastructure development to support the industry's growth.
As well as national and local government, the Crown Estate, local enterprise partnership Regen SW, the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter, and marine energy testing site Wave Hub will all be involved in the marine park.

"This is a real milestone for the marine industry and for the South West region in securing its place in renewables history as the first official marine energy park," Barker said in a statement. "The UK is already a world leader in wave and tidal power, so we should capitalise on this leadership to make marine power a real contender in the future energy market."

The government has earmarked marine energy as having the potential to deliver between 150MW and 300MW of installed capacity by 2020, contributing £15bn to the economy by 2050 as well as creating thousands of jobs and providing a predictable source of low carbon electricity.
Over the last year it has brought in a series of measures to encourage the nascent industry, including invested £20m to scale up prototypes and upping the levels of support under the Renewables Obligation subsidy scheme from two tradable renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) per MWh to five ROCS per MWh.

Further parks are also envisaged in Scotland at the Pentland Firth and Orkney Islands.
Johnny Gowdy, programme director at Regen SW, said the region's marine business base, strong manufacturing sector, and world leading research and demonstration facilities meant it was uniquely placed to accelerate the development of the technology.

"The launch of the South West Marine Energy Park is a recognition of the great resources, research facilities and businesses we have in the region," he said. "It also puts the South West in a position to attract future investment, and to be at the forefront of the new global marine energy industry."

Tidal barrage goes live (but in France)

We may have the longest coastline in Europe and the channel the highest tidal change but we just cannot make Tidal Energy happen. A few weeks after the Coalition Government put a red line through the Severn Barrage France has been using Tidal energy for nearly 40 years with the Rance River in Brittany....

From the Ecologist " The UK may have turned its back on the Severn barrage but across the channel they have been harnessing tidal energy from the River Rance for more than 40 years - and it may yet point to a way forward for smaller-scale renewable projects

Although France is rich in many areas, it is very poor in energy resources. The Germans and Spanish have coal, Britain has enjoyed an abundance of oil, gas and coal, the Dutch have gas from the North Sea, and the Swiss enjoy plentiful hydro-electric power.

French coal mining ended in April 2004 with the closure of the last pit in the Lorraine region. Until the end of the 1970s, French natural gas supplied between six and seven million tons of gas per year, contributing up to 15 per cent of France's primary energy production, but this has now fallen to just 2 per cent, and oil production now stands at less than 1.5 million tons per year..... read more here

How France eclipsed the UK with Brittany tidal success story
Robert Williams 10th November