Tidal power gets helpful fillip with Welsh funding

MCT received consent in December 2005 to install a 1 MW tidal stream device in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough (pictured) and has successfully trialled a 300 kW energy device off the north Devon coast for the past three years. It is also investigating the feasibility of building a 12 unit tidal energy farm in waters 2kms north-west of Lynmouth, off Foreland Point on the north Devon coast. The 10MW tidal farm, to be known as the Lynmouth SeaGen Array, would be connected to the local electricity network and have the capacity to supply around 5,500 local homes. A recent report from Carbon Trust says that wave and tide-generated energy could eventually provide up to a fifth of the country’s electricity needs, if sufficient investment is made. “The UK leads the world in marine renewables technology development,” said John Callaghan, programme engineer at the Carbon Trust. “The UK is in prime position to accelerate commercial progress in the marine energy sector and secure economic value by selling marine energy devices, developing wave and tidal stream farms and creating new revenues from electricity generation.”