Tidal and Wave Energy News — December 2022

Compiled by David Hoyle, Tide Mill Institute

General Interest

This article provides explanations of the various types of tidal power generation systems along with excellent diagrams.
What is Tidal Energy? Advantages, Disadvantages, and Future Trends | Earth.Org

United States

The first of the following three articles is an Esquire interview on the topic of marine energy with Jennifer Garson and Tim Ramsey of the US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office. The second and third articles describe current and future WPTO funding for tidal, wave, and river power generation technology developments.

With Marine Power, It’s Not the Size of Your Turbine, It’s the Motion of the Ocean
US DOE awards $12M for marine energy and hydropower projects
US Government invest $35m in tidal energy and river current systems

PacWave test facility being constructed off the coast of Oregon for testing performance of wave energy devices. It will have the potential to test up to 20 devices and 20 megawatts at one time. (Diagram courtesy of Oregon State University and U.S.D.O.E.)

Maine’s Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has installed a RivGen turbine at the Canadian Hydrokinetic Test Center in Manitoba, Canada, intended to be a “Tesla showroom” for the technology.
RivGen power system launches at Seven Sisters Falls

ORPC also has plans to install its first turbine in Chile in 2023.
ORPC to install its first hydrokinetic power system in South America – Offshore Energy

The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and the University of New Hampshire are teaming up to instrument the tidal turbine located under the “Living Bridge” in Portsmouth, N.H.
US researchers team up to collect and share experimental data on vertical-axis tidal turbine – Offshore Energy

New Jersey’s Wave Energy Bill Initiative is expected to move forward to the state senate.
Wave energy legislation (you read it right) takes big step forward | ROI-NJ

Eco Wave Power to install a wave power generation demonstrator in the Port of Los Angeles, Calif.
Port of LA will be test site for electricity generation with sea waves

Canada

Sustainable Marine’s 420kW PLAT-I tidal power generation platform is operational in the Bay of Fundy and delivering power to Nova Scotia’s grid. The first article, from the New York Times, describes the huge potential for tidal power in the Bay of Fundy and the associated engineering challenges. The second item is a video onboard PLAT-I highlighting the innovative features and scale of the platform. The third item describes environmental monitoring ongoing on PLAT-I.
Who Will Win the Race to Generate Electricity From Ocean Tides? (Subscription required.)
Video: Onboard the innovative floating tidal energy project in Nova Scotia
Canadian specialists help Sustainable Marine enhance environmental monitoring – International Water Power

United Kingdom

This Wired article provides an excellent overview of the potential of tidal power in the UK along with the challenges, mainly cost related, standing in the way of tidal barrage projects.
The World Needs More Gigantic Sci-Fi Sea Dams | WIRED

Three tidal stream power projects will share £22M in funding to bring 40MW of power onto the UK grid at £179/MWh.
Tidal triumph ‘turning resource into power source’ as slow-boat sector gets UK CfD boost | Recharge

The following three articles describe several large, tidal barrage projects being planned in the UK.
Fleetwood’s £38million Wyre Gateway tidal energy scheme more viable than ever, says team | Blackpool Gazette
Tidal barrage across Morecambe Bay discussed with Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss | The Westmorland Gazette
Mersey Tidal Project and where it is up to now – Liverpool Echo

A 1.8MWh battery storage system has been installed at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Scotland where it enables power generated from the tides to produce clean hydrogen.
Energy storage system for tidal power-to-hydrogen research project energized in Orkney

Rolls Royce used hydrogen from EMEC in the test of its first hydrogen powered aircraft engine.
Rolls-Royce Converts a Modern Aircraft Engine to Run on Hydrogen | PCMag

This article describes AWS Ocean Energy’s wave energy convertor and includes an excellent video explaining how the “point absorber” harnesses power from ocean waves.
This Scottish startup found a new way to harness the power of waves

Articles on two “world’s largest” wave energy convertors. The first says that Irish company OceanEnergy’s floating OE35 wave energy generator will be upgraded from 500 kW to 1 MW for testing in Scotland. The second article is about Bombora’s 1.5 MW Pembrokeshire wave energy demonstration project, where the equipment is submerged beneath the waves.
‘World’s largest capacity floating wave energy device’ to be tested in Orkney
Bombora mWave Solution: World’s Most Powerful Wave Energy Converter

Article on Sea Wave Energy’s so-called waveline magnet wave energy convertor. It includes an interesting video illustrating how the concept works.
The Waveline Magnet Offers The Cheapest Clean Energy Ever

Rest of World

One wave energy pilot project at the Port of Jaffa in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo courtesy Eco Wave Power.)

Wave Swell Energy’s floating 200 kW wave energy generator has been successfully tested in Australia.
Wave Swell Energy trial delivers conversion rates of up to 50% – pv magazine Australia

Eco Wave Power, active in New Jersey and California, has started test runs of its wave energy generators in Tel Aviv, Israel. Eco Wave Power has also signed a deal to build a 77MW wave power station, billed as the world’s largest, in Turkey.
Test runs begin on Israeli wave energy project
World’s largest wave power plant to be built in Turkey

More tidal and wave energy articles, July-December, 2022

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