RenewablesOffshore

Open Hydro Wins Tidal Contract in France

These days, France doesn't merit much mention in discussions about tidal power. Which is odd because after all, France is home to the forty year old La Rance Project, the world's first electrical generating station powered with tidal energy.  But LaRance is a tidal barrage project -- essentially, a dam located at the convergence of a tidal basin and river -- which wouldn't stand a chance of getting sited these days, at least not in the United States or the UK.  In any event, then, it's only fitting that France will be host to a new generation tidal project.   This time, though, instead of a barrage,  EDF, the utility commissioning the project will use modular tidal turbines supplied by Dublin-based Open Hydro, reports Irish Independent News. The plant will be comprised of 10 tidal turbines and will generate up to 4 MW of electricity, or roughly enough for 6000 average European homes.

Preliminary Permit Filing Watch

Ever since FERC announced its strict scrutiny policy for preliminary permit applications, it seemed as if much of the site grabbing activity that provoked the policy to begin with had died down. But Pacman companies i.e., those that gobble up wave and tidal sites, remain at large, still gobbling up sites as quickly as they can file preliminary permit applications. This matrix shows the most recent activity.

Now, I'm not saying that developers should be limited to filing a preliminary permit just one site. Companies need some flexibility to move forward at several sites since some may not prove optimal for development, while delays due to a need for extra studies or opposition from opponents may stall progress at other sites. And, it's often less expensive to conduct preliminary studies for several sites at a time.

Still, it's one thing to propose studying four or six or even ten sites at a time, and quite another to pursue dozens of permits at a time. Once a site is under permit, it's off limits to any other developer for three years - which means that responsible companies that spend time developing technology before applying for permits - can potentially be boxed out, effectively penalized for diligence. In addition, filing multiple permits can alarm the public and create backlash against the marine renewables industry. After all, no one wants to see an entire river or ocean packed full of buoys or turbines, no matter how benign they may be. And even when developers hastily file multiple permits and then surrender them, it can give the impression that the industry isn't yet ready for prime time.

To be clear, I'm not advocating limits on the number of preliminary permits that a company should be allowed to file. And I do believe that FERC's strict scrutiny policy, over time, will help knock off the worst of the Pacmen. But it wouldn't hurt for developers to consider the impact that their strategies have not just for their own investors but for the industry as a whole. After all, to paraphrase a famous quote, a rising marine renewables industry will lift all buoys (or turbines).

Marine Current Turbines Deploys Off Northern Ireland

By summer, Bristol-based Marine Current Turbines will make history, when it flips the switch on its 1.2 megawatt tidal power turbine, the first commercial scale tidal project in the world. Earlier this week, MCT deployed its turbine in Strangford Narrows in Northern Ireland and expects to begin feeding power into the grid sometime over the summer, following 12 weeks of monitoring and observation. The narrows offer a sweet spot of tidal energy, situated as they are between the Irish Sea and the body of the Strangford Lough.

The project has received funded $9.6 million in funding from the Republic of Ireland's state owned utility and several other private investors, reports Clean Tech. And even as MTC moves forward with this historic deployment, it is eyeing other opportunities, including a 10.5 MW project off the coast of Anglesey, North Wales and a site in Vancouver. MTC is also considering applying for Scotland's $20 million (USD) Saltire Prize, that I mentioned here earlier this week.

Anticipated Cost No Deterrent to California Dream of Wave Energy

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is staying anchored to the concept of a tidal power project for the City of San Francisco, even if the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission concludes in a study, due out in May, that wave energy is too costly. The Commission's study on tidal power, issued earlier this month, reached a similar result.

But for now, Mayor Newsom doesn't care, because he's not looking for the City to get rich on a wave energy project. Newsom is hopeful that utilities, taxpayers and government studies can help pay for a wave energy project to get the City moving in the right direction.

Newsom's remarks show the importance of engaging coastal communities and making them partners in wave and tidal development. As I posted here, municipal and public entities are often able to take a longer term view of the benefits of wave and tidal projects, in contrast to private entities which will always demand shorter term financial returns.

Is Tidal Power Too Costly For the Near Term: A Tale of Two Studies

Both Tacoma Power and Snohomish County PUD evaluated similar tidal resources in the power-rich Tacoma Narrows. But one utility has already concluded that tidal technology isn't economically feasible, at least in the short term, while the other continues to study the resource.

So which utility will continue to swim against the tide while the other decided to return to shore?
According to the Herald.net (3/3/08),Tacoma Power bailed out, concluding that it could take eight to ten years to make an investment in tidal power pay off. According to Tacoma, the tides are not strong enough to generate enough power with the technology now available.

Meanwhile, Snohomish is moving forward with its own three year study of the resource. As of now, the PUD is expecting tidal power to cost close to what Tacoma Power concluded, or slightly less -- $170 to $230 per megawatt hour.

These numbers aren't surprising - and they won't decline until, as with wind, the industry matures. In the meantime, developers, investors and coastal communities will need to decide whether the short term costs are worth accepting given the potential for long term benefits.

UK Marine Renewable Update

For years, U.S. wave and tidal developers have been envious of the supportive, not to mention, well funded environment enjoyed by their colleagues across the pond. But is the UK system all it's cracked up to be? Recently, some have argued that while the UK remains a world leader, nonetheless, the UK's program for marine renewables needs improvement to prevent companies from seeking out greener pastures - or more aptly, bluer waters.

Last week, the UK issued a new report from the Renewable Advisory Board (RAB)on the progress of the marine renewables industry in the UK. Several factors account for slower-than-anticipated progress, including substantial technical challenges, over optimism that created raised expectations and high costs associated with R&D projects. Still, the RAB report confirms the potential and wave and tidal power to contribute to renewable energy and climate change targets.

A second article from the Times Online (2/11/2008) suggests that misplaced funding priorities have thwarted successful commercialization of marine renewables.
One UK initiative - the £50 million Marine Renewables Deployment Fund - attracted only two applications, both of which were rejected. The reason? Only companies that had gone beyond initial R&D and had full scale operating devices qualified for funds, thus severely limiting the pool of eligible applicants. An energy advisor at EFF, which prepared a report assessing the UK's marine renewables program said that the lack of grants issued by the fund questioned whether money was being used wisely. The EFF report also cited the Portuguese offer to marine energy producers of a fixed premium price for their electricity for 12 years as an example of an attractive incentive.

The marine renewables industry in the US should now look to the program in the UK not necessarily with envy, but in an effort to figure out what's the best way to spend public money to promote what will hopefully emerge as a successful private industry.

US Wave and Tidal Round Up

Once again, it's time for the latest wave and tidal round up in the United States. Here we go.

MassachusettsEdgartown recently received a preliminary permot for a proposed tidal project for Muskegat Channel, as discussed here. University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth has also requested a $5 million grant from the Renewable Energy Trust of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to establish a federal marine renewable energy center for the east coast.

Hawaii Lures Ocean Company Australian company OceanLinxmay become a major beneficiary of a $20 million dollar tax-free development bonds in Hawaii, according to this article in Maui News (1/29/08). The article reports that Oceanlinx could be eligible for a 100 percent technology tax credit. And Oceanlinx gets another benefit - an MOU with Maui Electric Company for the purchase of power generated by the 2.7 MW plant. Hawaii's step into ocean energy is part of the state's effort to meet an aggressive goal of deriving 20 percent of its power needs from renewables.

Rhode IslandSeems that the past few months have been busy for Oceanlinx -- in December, it entered into an agreement with the Office of Energy Resources and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation for two small wave energy projects, according to this source (12/3/07). However, the state recently gave University of Rhode Island a $200,000 grant to begin research on the impacts of offshore projects, with the resulting data to be used as the groundwork for ocean zoning or a criteria for permitting offshore renewable projects. The Providence Journal reports that the Oceanlinx project will be put on hold for 18 months, until the studies are completed.

Oregon Like Rhode Island, Oregon is busy with studies also, as this
news story reports. A team of biologists from Oregon State University is catagloging eastern gray whale as it migrates, passing through the site of what one day could be Oregon’s first commercial wave energy park. The data will be used to establish a baseline for comparing whether the whales' path will change direction or location after wave energy buoys are installed. the marine mammal study is funded by the Oregon Wave Energy Trust is funding the study with one million of the 4.2 million grant that OWET received from the legislature. Preliminarily, the whales are staying outside the proposed boundaries of a wave park, but more information is needed about the whales' return route.

Florida Florida is turning to the currents, with researchers at Florida Atlantic University exploring technology to tap the Gulf Stream for Energy (1/26/08). Scientists and engineers at FAU's Center of Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology are currently developing a prototype system of turbines that will be planted on the ocean floor in the Florida Straits, about 150 feet underwater. The potential is enormous -- even harnessing a small portion of the Gulf Stream's powerful currents could yield enough power for 2.5 million to 5 million homes.

My Spin So what do all of these new developments have in common? All of the states moving ahead on marine renewables are providing funding or support, either through state subsidized environmental studies, MOUs with developers or tax incentive programs. As much as many marine renewable companies want to claim that they can attract capital to finance construction of these projects, at the same time, they remain heavily dependent upon public benefits and subsidies. In my view, there's nothing wrong with public subsidies that support environmental research or help sweeten private financing deals. After all, developing a new source of clean renewable energy in a reponsible, environmentally friendly manner benefits the public by fostering energy independence and diversifying our energy supply. But let's at least be honest that marine renewables still require favorable government policies - which might include tax and investment credits for development of early stage projects, favorable tariff rates for power sales, and governent subsidized environmental studies or marine research test centers. Without these programs, the marine renewables industry might just sink rather than swim.

Free Flow Power Sets Record With Application for 59 Permits

While there have been companies that have filed at least 100 preliminary permits for conventional hydro development, when it comes to new, hydrokinetic technologies, Free Flow Power appears to have set some kind of record, with the filing of 59 preliminary permit applications to study and evaluate tidal energy sites in the Mississippi. (Source: Southern Missourian, 11/12/07)). [CE note - According to the FERC website, the permits were filed sometime in July or August, however, they have not yet been accepted for filing. In October and November, Free Flow submitted additional information about its proposal in response to a request from FERC].

Cumulatively, the 59 projects would have a total capacity of 1600 MW, according to Daniel Irvin, Free Flow Power's CEO, who is quoted in the article. That's also a far larger size than most of the marine renewables projects proposed to date. Irvin explains that a larger sized project is more economically advantageous because of economies of scale and the potential for better tax benefits. In total, development of all 59 projects will require an investment of $3 billion.

Undoubtedly, the Free Flow project is highly ambitious. But with a price tag of $3 billion will it ever be built? According to its most recent FERC submissions, Free Flow stated that it intends to, and is capable of, complying with FERC's new "strict scrutiny" policy for preliminary permits (where permit holders must meet certain milestones. But will it have the resources to fund what will like be an extensive licensing process?

A Bumpy Road to Tidal Power Success in South Korea

The United States marine renewables industry isn't the only one encountering some rough waters en route to successful development. This
article reports on some of the problems plaguing a tidal project in South Korea. From the article:

Two separate accidents — one a mishap and the other, a major project gone awry — are playing major roles in shaping the development of tidal power in South Korea. Korea had planned to be the first nation to trial commercial-sized power generation from ocean currents, with the first of its pilot turbines in place at Uldolmok, in the country's south-west by the second half of this year. Researchers at the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) chose the site because it has flows up to 12 knots, believed to be among the fastest in Asia. "The purpose of the power plant is to do some experiments under the most severe conditions," said Yum Ki-dai, president of KORDI. But picking so exacting a location has its perils. In the operation to install the one-megawatt pilot plant, one of the two tug boats involved lost control. Borne along by the powerful current, the barge carrying the 1000-tonne rig rammed into a bridge, closing half of it for three months, and setting the project back at least a year.

Of course, if the project had never gone forward, these issues would not have been discovered. Perhaps developers may need to go back to the drawing board, but at least now, they'll have a better understanding of the issues that need to be addressed.

More Tidal Updates

Here's another quick round up on tidal developments in the United States. According to this
Miami Herald story (11/13/07), a Florida Keyscompany is testing a tidal technology to be sited in the Keys' channel. And the Snohomish County PUD, which has been studying tidal power at sites around Puget Sound will soon share the details of its preliminary tests with customers, according to this news story.