Marine Renewable Energy Plants for Scotland

In a bid to jump start getting more renewable energy from alternative sources the UK government gave the go ahead for new marine energy plants in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

By building these plants and harnessing the power of the sea it is projected that these new marine stations will provide as much electricity as a large nuclear power station within the next 10 years.

The Crown Estate has granted 10 licences to companies to build wave and tidal electricity generating power plants with an eventual investment thought to be in the region of $6 billion. Companies such as Eon, Scottish and Southern have won these licences for plants to be built off the north coast of Scotland.

In Northern Ireland tests have already been underway for a number of years and this overall project suggests that a very large proportion of the UK’s energy requirements could eventually be supported in this manner.

The government has tough targets from the EU to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 and improve the percentage of electrical power generated by alternative and renewable fuel sources so this will go some way to meeting these targets.

The power plants off the coast of Scotland are designed to supply up to 750,000 homes with electricity when they are fully operational in 2020. The wave and tidal schemes will be developed in the Pentland Firth between northern Scotland and the Orkney Islands.

The Crown Estate has awarded the licences because they own most of the seabed around the UK. Alex Salmond Scotlands’s first minister has dubbed this scheme the Saudia Arabia of marine energy because of the amount of electricity that will produced once everything is operational and the almost endless developments that could take place off shore with the technologies that are now available.

List of the proposed sites in and around Scotland

Here’s a list of the sites that will generate the wind and tidal power under licence:

 
West Orkney South

• Developer : E.on
• Size : 50 megawatts
• Type : Wave project
• Number of devices : 66
• Type of device : Pelamis P2

Brough Head

• Developer : Edinburgh firm Aquamarine Power, plus Scottish and Southern Energy
• Size : 200 megawatts
• Type : Wave project
• Number of devices : 80
• Type of device : Aquamarine Power’s Oyster 2. 

Westray South

• Developer : Scottish and Southern Energy
• Size : 200 megawatts
• Type : Tidal project
• Number of devices required : up to 200
• Type of device to be used: Not yet decided

West Orkney Middle South

• Developer : E.on
• Size : 50 megawatts
• Type : Wave project
• Number of devices : Up to 50
• Type of device to be used: Not yet decided

Costa Head

• Developer : Scottish and Southern Energy
• Size : 200 megawatts
• Type : Wave project
• Number of devices required : up to 200
• Type of device to be used : Not yet decided

Ness of Duncansby

• Developer : ScottishPower Renewables
• Size : 100 megawatts
• Type : Tidal project
• Number of devices : Up to 95
• Type of device to be used : HS1000 turbines developed by Norwegian firm Hammer-fest Strom

Armdale

• Developer : Edinburgh firm Pelamis Wave Power, operating as Ocean Power Delivery
• Size : 50 megawatts
• Type : Wave project
• Number of devices : 66
• Type of device to be used : Pelamis P2 “sea snake” machine

Brough Ness

• Developer : Bristol firm Marine Current Turbines
• Size : 100 megawatts
• Type : Tidal project
• Number of devices : 66
• Type of device to be used : Marine Current Turbine’s SeaGen.

Cantick Head

• Developer : Dublin firm OpenHydro in conjunction with Scottish and Southern Energy
• Size : 200 megawatts
• Type : Tidal project
• Number of devices : Up to 200
• Type of device: OpenHydro’s Open-Centre tidal turbine.

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