An electric vehicle recharging point using tidal power has started operating, offering road users on an island in the north of mainland Scotland a new renewable option to run their cars.
The facility is located in Yell, which is part of Shetland, an archipelago of about 100 islands. The charging point gets its electricity from Nova Innovation’s Shetland Tidal Array, a four-turbine installation at Bluemull Sound, a strait between Yell and another island called Unst.
In an announcement Monday, Nova Innovation described the project as “the first electric vehicle … charging point where drivers can” fill up “directly from a tidal power source.” A battery storage system has also been deployed to ensure a constant supply of vehicles.
The Scottish government is one of many around the world looking to move away from internal combustion engine vehicles. It wants to gradually eliminate the need for new vans and diesel and petrol cars by 2030. Funding for the project at Yell has come from Transport Scotland, the country’s transport agency.
Scotland’s strengths
Among those who reacted to Monday’s announcement about the project in Yell was Fabrice Leveque, who is the head of policy at WWF Scotland.
“It’s great to see the tidal technology being used to help decarbonise part of Scotland’s transport sector to the islands,” he said, adding that Scotland was well placed to continue to lead the development of this. technology, which will help reduce climate emissions and create skilled and green jobs. “
“Our islands have a wealth of renewable resources, including wind, tidal and solar energy, which when used carefully, could bring multiple economic and social benefits to remote and rural communities in Scotland,” he said. continue to declare Leveque.
The waters surrounding Scotland are home to a number of interesting projects focusing on tidal energy. These include the first phase of the development of the MeyGen tidal current, which uses four 1.5 megawatt turbines. The majority owner of the project is Simec Atlantis Energy, listed in London.
Although there is excitement around the potential of marine energy, its current footprint remains small. Recent data from Ocean Energy Europe (OEE) show that only 260 kilowatts (kW) of tidal current capacity was added to Europe last year, while only 200 kW of wave energy were installed. . By contrast, 14.7 gigawatts of wind power capacity were installed in Europe in 2020, according to the industrial body WindEurope.
While tides have a long way to go to catch up with other renewable sources such as wind and solar, it does have a potential advantage: predictability. Tidal currents, OEE says, “are caused by the gravitational forces of the sun and moon.” The fact that tidal power generation is influenced by “known cycles of the moon, sun, and earth” rather than climate means that “it is predictable hundreds of years in advance.”
The importance of infrastructure
If countries want to increase their supply of electric vehicles in the coming years and move away from gasoline and diesel, a reliable and sufficient charging infrastructure will be crucial.
Proper charging options will also help challenge perceptions surrounding “reach anxiety,” a term that refers to the idea that electric vehicles can’t make long trips without losing energy and getting stuck.
Although the project at Yell is small-scale, it is part of a broader shift focused on cargo infrastructure development.
The UK’s first yard dedicated to recharging electric vehicles opened last December, for example, while the Volkswagen Group wants to significantly increase the number of recharging facilities in Europe, North America and China.