- Title: SWEDEN / FILE: Company develops tidal power technique
- Date: 8th July 2010
- Summary: GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN (JUNE 22, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MINESTO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ANDERS JANSSON, SAYING: "This is one renewable resource and if you combine all these different renewable resources we could have sort of a sustainable future where we get all our electricity from renewable sources. What we have found is that we can utilise slow-moving waters, which means that we are alone on about 40 percent of the total market. And therefore we can significantly increase the potential for tidal energy. And tidal energy is the only renewable source that is totally predictable. We know for every minute exactly how much electricity we produce compared to wind and sun where we don't really know that. We know that we can produce a significant amount of energy from that but we don't know when."
- Embargoed: 23rd July 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Industry
- Reuters ID: LVABTF19X033VF0L3BGP3THHYBTJ
- Story Text: A new technique to draw energy out of tidal currents has been developed by Swedish company Minesto.
The company says tidal power is superior to other forms of renewable energy because, compared to wind and sunshine, it's more predictable.
Minesto claim that the estimability of tides means energy producers can predict almost exactly how much energy will be received by its plant. Solar and wind power, by contrast, is highly dependent on weather conditions.
Anders Jansson is Minesto's executive director. A keen kite surfer hailing from Gothenburg, he's been around the sea his whole life. Jansson says the project is expanding at some speed.
"We started the project looking at sort of the commercial aspects, to see what kind of industries, because this was very much in its infancy, but today it is really taking up some speed due to very very many projects around the world. You can especially see it in the UK, pretty much because they have about 50 percent of the resources in Europe so they can really find a significant amount of renewable resources in the oceans," he said.
The invention was originally a Saab construction but, because the technique didn't fall inside the company's core activities, they sold the patent to Minesto.
The company has consulting offices around Europe and Jansson is preparing final tests off the shore of Northern Ireland.
"Next year we go out to do a test outside of Northern Ireland to really like challenge the technology and see that we can utilise the currents in the way we want to," he said. "We also look at how we affect the environmental habitats such as seal and fish but also the sea bed which is important that we don't ruin. And so far we don't really see any problems with that but we have to go out and test it."
Minesto's concept for tidal power plants is called Deep Green. It's based on a fundamentally new principle for electricity generation from tidal currents. The power plant is applicable in areas where no other technology have been able to operate before due to its unique ability to operate in low velocities.
Deep Green is already highly efficient in tidal current speeds of only 1.2 - 2.2 metres per second, which offers new possibilities for exploring this never ending source of renewable energy.
Minesto's principal aim is to establish their plants around Britain.
Jansson says tides have the potential to provide a considerable proportion of the power market in years to come. The magnitude of the tide at a location is the result of the changing positions of the moon and sun relative to the earth, the effects of earth rotation and the topography.
The Deep Green technology is based on a kite and uses a turbine and generator attached to the seabed by a tether. Hydrodynamic forces on the kite caused by the current velocity make it move. A control system is used to move the kite in a certain trajectory.
The speed of the kite determines the flow velocity to the turbine, which is increased by about ten times the current speed. With a wing span of 12 metres the kite is designed to run at a speed of 16 metres per second, at a current velocity around 1.6 metre per second.
The electricity is transmitted onshore through a power cable inside the tether, providing the green energy Jansson says more and more customers and companies are looking for.
"I think it really helps us that we have this sort of market pull where we can see that customers and companies are really looking for renewable projects and also it lies pretty close to everyone's heart that we need to do something. So definitely I think we lie perfectly in the time to do this and every day we feel that we want to move faster and get there early but this kind of technologies take time to develop," he said.
Minesto already receive development funds from the British government and Jansson says Deep Green is an interesting way to create job opportunities, raise government tax income, and at the same time work for a cleaner environment.
He points out that neighbouring Denmark has successfully invested in green sources of environment while making large profits from tax revenues generated from private operators running their wind power plants.
Minesto has a large net of partners in the Deep Green project, including business networks in Sweden, Norway and Britain. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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