The Isles of Scilly lie in the waters off the south-west coast of England.
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A one-year research project that will focus on the potential of tidal wind, wave and floating technology in the waters off the coast of England has secured the support of Marine-i, a program focused on innovation in areas such as marine energy.
The project will be based on the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the south-west coast of England, and run by the Isles of Scilly Community Venture, Planet A Energy and Waves4Power.
In a statement earlier this week, Marine-i – which is partially funded by the European Regional Development Fund – said the overall aim of the Isles of Scilly initiative was to “build a new resource database of waves and tides “.
These data will include information on a number of metrics that include wave height, wind speed, and tidal current speeds. Marine-i’s support will come in the form of providing the consortium with access to experts from its partners: the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the offshore renewable energy catapult.
“Being located almost 30 miles off the south-west coast of England, marine energy is a natural choice for us and can make Scilly self-sufficient in energy,” Jim Wrigley of the Isles of England said on Tuesday. Scilly Community Venture.
“However, one hurdle to this is that the key data that developers need to assess its viability does not currently exist at the required level of detail,” he added.
Wrigley said the new database “could be the key to opening up some really exciting green energy solutions for Scilly.”
Marine energy
With miles and miles of coastline, it is perhaps not surprising that the UK hosts a number of marine energy-related projects and initiatives.
Last month it was announced that some £ 7.5 million ($ 10.3 million) in public funding would be used to support the development of eight wave energy projects led by British universities.
March also saw the Port Authority of London kick off tidal power technology testing in a section of the Thames, an action that could ultimately help decarbonise river-connected operations.
Research and development focused on such technologies is not limited to the UK This week, marine energy company Minesto, which is developing a tidal power project in the Faroe Islands, said its DG100 power plant had “supplied grid-compatible electricity to new record levels” during recent productions.
And in February, it was announced that a tidal turbine built and tested in Scotland had been installed in the waters of a chain of Japanese islands. In a statement at the time, London-based firm Simec Atlantis Energy said its pilot turbine had generated 10 megawatts in its first 10 days of operation.
There is a growing interest in marine energy systems, but it must be borne in mind that the current footprint of these technologies remains scarce.
Recent data from Ocean Energy Europe show that only 260 kilowatts (kW) of tidal current capacity was added to Europe last year, while only 200 kW of wave energy was installed.
By contrast, 14.7 gigawatts of wind power capacity were installed in Europe in 2020, according to the industrial body WindEurope.