Tidal Lagoon UK project

A look at harnessing wave power in the UK. Some interesting points to me:

1. They are going to spend A$2.4B on the project . . .
2. "predictable energy for 14 hours of every day over 120 years (that’s about four or five times longer than non-hydro renewable energy generators)."

3. What tech do they use ?


Link - www.tidallagoonswanseabay.com

4. SHE Protean WEC solution (Aug Prez pack)
- Designed to convert all 6 degrees of movement at the ocean’s surface into energy whether in light, heavy or extreme seas
- Designed to be environmentally benign with a small ocean and seabed footprint, easily installed, retrieved or relocated, facilitating permitting and approvals
- Designed to adapt to varied sea states, seabeds, distances from shore and depths
-Designed for cost effective construction and operation to reduce installation costs. Designed to be easy to install and relocate using patented deployment technology. Maintenance designed to be simple and done onshore
- Designed to require less capital up-front therefore reducing adoption barriers. Wave farms can start small and scale incrementally.

5. Although SHE"s target is Remote coastal communities and islands & Industrials – i.e., ports, mining and off-shore oil rigs it should not preclude itself from other alternative energy opportunities. So here's a comparison b/w The lagoon project and SHE tech
- Protean solution does not require 4 years to build
- Each protean unit generates 1.5MW, so would need 214 buoys to match the 320 MW lagoon project. SHE's Aug prez shows an array of 30 units, so would need just over 7 arrays, but they could be installed in sets of 3's so not all clustered together.
- Cost ? expect a lot of change from $2.4B for the protean solution
- Protean solution is scalable and will keep working irrespective of sea levels. e.g. if sea levels rise then the lagoon solution may not deliver for their intended 120 years without having to increase the height of their wall / maybe re-work turbine location

Investors are looking forward to SHE"s pre- commercial demonstration wave farm off Western Australia.

Main Article Link -
www.thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/energy/uks-huge-tidal-lagoon-could-be-first-of-many/76139

Excerpt
"Pre-development work is well underway on the world’s first tidal lagoon, to be built in Swansea Bay on the south coast of Wales, the first of many around the world for this revolutionary new form of generating renewable energy.

The AU$2.4 billion project is expected to be completed within four years, when it will start generating a maximum of 320 megawatts, enough to power 155,000 homes – more than the annual domestic electricity use of the city of Swansea. The project was awarded a Development Consent Order on 9 June by the British government.

Unlike wind and solar renewable energy projects, the lagoon will produce reliable, predictable energy for 14 hours of every day over 120 years (that’s about four or five times longer than non-hydro renewable energy generators). As a form of hydroelectric energy, it will be able to generate power from the incoming and outgoing tides, which are captured within the lagoon’s four mile long artificial walls – an 11.4sq km sea lake."