Major plans for tidal energy farm

BBC News ^ | 29 September 2008

[Lorianne]

A major tidal energy project is being planned for waters off the coast of Northern Ireland and Scotland.

ScottishPower has identified sites off the Antrim Coast, Pentland Firth and the Sound of Islay to test sea turbines which could power thousands of homes.

They have been working on the Lanstrom device, which is said to be one of the world's most advanced tidal turbine.

The sites would host up to 60 of the turbines, 20 at each site, generating power for up to 40,000 homes.

The company is expected to apply for planning permission next year.

The device, similar to an underwater wind turbine, has been tested in a Norwegian fjord. Keith Anderson from ScottishPower said it was a "historic day for the development of marine energy".

The structures stand 30 metres tall on three legs and can work as deep as 100 metres below sea level with the ability to turn to harness tide movements.

The 20-metre blades would turn at least 10 metres below the surface to avoid shipping, developers said.

The zones would be banned to trawlers for safety reasons.

[There You Go Again]

I filed a lawsuit to stop this from being built....it could kill a couple fish........no to nuclear, no to drilling, no to windmills (kills birds)....I am a very wealthy actor and I really don't think we need to be doing all of this stuff......if you just flick the switch on your wall, that will power your lights......come watch my next movie...I play a pirate.....a very important role....very deep, very meaningful in the grand scheme of things.....

[idov]

Highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy. Back in the 60s there was a huge campaign to tap them at the Chignecto Basin. KC Irving, the big industrialist, said he could use them to create hundreds of millions in industy, that’s billions today. Because its the Maritimes, the back end of Canada, no one did anything. But you can’t lose with tidal power. It’s working, where else? in France, the nation that leads in atomic power.

[Rembrandt]

I’ll bet this will cost taxpayers at least $30,000 per home per year, but it will make Algore happy. To me, Algore’s happiness is not worth the dogdoo I wiped off my shoe tonight.

[Jeff Chandler]

Puerto Peñasco, at the top of the Sea of Cortez, has 24' tides, about half that of the Bay of Fundy, but high enough to produce plenty of electricity.

[mirkwood]

EASTPORT — Workers spent the past winter tinkering with high-tech turbines slung beneath a barge in the cold waters off the Maine coast before getting them to produce a modest 20 kilowatts, enough electricity to power a half-dozen homes.

Far from discouraged, Ocean Renewable Power Co. is spending the summer preparing to deploy larger turbines capable of producing up to 5 megawatts.

Eventually, the company envisions producing enough electricity to power 22,000 homes by harnessing the power of Passamaquoddy Bay, where twice each day the tide rises and falls upwards of 20 feet, the greatest tide change in the continental United States.