A revolutionary tidal energy turbine is to be installed next year in Strangford Lough, Co Down, after approval for the development was granted by Northern Ireland's Environment and Heritage Service.
Bristol-based Marine Current Turbines Ltd, which has received a £4.27 million (€6.3 million) grant from the British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said yesterday that its one megawatt SeaGen turbine would be the first of its type in the world. It has the capacity to generate clean and sustainable electricity for around 800 homes.
Martin Wright, the company's managing director, told The Irish Times that its commercial pilot project "will be an amazing milestone in terms of the development of this technology" and would be monitored closely for its environmental impact. British energy minister Malcolm Wicks said SeaGen was "exactly the type of scheme we have to replicate in order to develop a world-class UK industry", adding that it was "a real feather in the cap for Northern Ireland" to be at the forefront of this technology.
So far, there have only been prototype devices developed to generate electricity by tapping into the velocity of sea currents. The only one in Britain is operating in the Bristol Channel while another prototype is due to be installed on the East River in New York.
Like wind and wave energy, tidal power produces no carbon dioxide emissions. But unlike them, its great advantage is predictability, as sea currents are well-established rather than intermittent and it can therefore guarantee a year-round supply of electricity.
The SeaGen device is the brainchild of Prof Peter Fraenkel, technical director of Marine Current Turbines Ltd. He said his team's work with a smaller tidal device off the north Devon coast for the past two and a half years had been invaluable in developing it.
Mr Wright said Strangford Lough had been carefully selected for the project because it was unique in Ireland or Britain as "the only sea that's south-east facing and therefore not subject to Atlantic swells" and also because of its high-speed tidal currents. "Given the support of DTI and Northern Ireland ministers for the SeaGen project, we now have a unique opportunity to comprehensively assess the environmental impact of our technology as well as showcase the commercial potential of tidal energy".
The SeaGen is to be installed in the Narrows, south of Portaferry and Strangford, and will be connected to the electricity grid via a cable to a nearby sewage plant.
One of the main environmental concerns about the project was its potential effect on a large colony of seals in the lough. However, Mr Wright said the seal pupping grounds were much farther north. "Obviously, it's very important that we don't disturb them".
Dutch engineering consultants Royal Haskoning have worked with the Environment and Heritage Service, Queen's University in Belfast and conservation bodies to agree on an extensive management and environmental monitoring of SeaGen's installation next August and its subsequent operation.
"We are confident that SeaGen will not only prove to be genuinely low in impact and sustainable, but will show that tidal energy can become a commercial reality and will be able to contribute to the UK energy requirements sooner than expected", Mr Wright said.
