PLANS for one of the world’s first commercial scale tidal power schemes to be built off the Welsh coast were unveiled by an energy consortium yesterday.

Npower Renewables and Marine Current Turbines say the plant could generate 10.5 megawatts of electricity every year – enough to supply 6,000 Welsh homes.

A prototype is due to be operating off the Northern Ireland coast by Easter.

UK Government policy has set a target of supplying 10% of electricity from renewables by 2010, and 15% by 2015.

And SeaGen Wales is convinced that, with global oil supplies running out and widespread opposition to nuclear, the scheme provides a blueprint for meeting our energy needs through clean sources.

Though the scheme’s position is in an ecologically sensitive area near the Skerries, a tiny group of islets off the coast of Anglesey, it was backed by some environmentalists yesterday.

And energy experts suggested the next decade is almost certain to bring a proliferation of such schemes around the coast of Wales.

A tidal barrage scheme in the Severn Estuary that could supply up to 5% of the UK’s electricity needs has been decades in the planning and is edging ever closer.

Also Conwy Council recently gave its support for a tidal energy scheme positioned off the North Wales coast at either Rhyl, Rhos-on-Sea or Llanddulas.

And Swansea Bay’s host potential is being explored.

Martin Wright, managing director at Marine Current Turbines, said, “Npower renewables’ extensive experience in developing offshore projects in the UK and Europe will be hugely valuable in taking forward the Anglesey project.

“Their involvement in SeaGen Wales highlights the very real potential that tidal energy can make to the UK energy mix.

“It is also a significant step in commercialising the technology to not only deliver the country’s carbon reduction targets, but also opens up new opportunities for our SeaGen technology to be deployed in other parts of the world.”

Chris Yewlett , lecturer in planning at Cardiff University, said objections are likely to centre around the scheme’s visual impact, but hinted concerns over the effects of climate change means there are few alternatives.

He said, “Tidal power is a very useful source of renewable energy if we can tap into it.

“Discussions about a barrage across the Severn have been going on for 30-odd years.

“Concerns about wind farms include things like bird strikes and the noise caused by the blades to people in the vicinity, as well as the visual impact in areas considered attractive landscapes.

“Some of that would apply to offshore power, but on the other hand you’ve got to get the power form somewhere.

“Nuclear has proved unsuccessful in the past and we still don’t know what to do with the waste.

“We’re going to run out of oil and we can’t go on burning fossil fuels because of the carbon problem, so this is probably the area to explore.”

The scheme would be sited in an area of 25-metre deep open water and will consist of seven 1.5MW turbines, each likely to stand about nine metres above sea level.

Technical experts said the scheme works simply like a series of underwater windmills powered by the tide’s flow.

Previous independent scoping studies have identified the Skerries as an ideal location, due to favourable tidal conditions and natural shelter.

The location also benefits from good port facilities at Holyhead, proximity to the national grid and good transport links for construction and maintenance.

Before construction the firms are required to carry out full environmental impact assessments and research will continue this year before a planning application is submitted in the middle of 2009.

Among those likely to be scrutinising the findings are the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), as the Skerries is home to a significant population of terns.

James Byrne, case work officer with RSPB Wales, said, “The birds are not on our red list of (endangered) species, but the Skerries are designated as a special protected area. The reason for the designation is the assemblage and numbers of breeding terns there.

“We will be scrutinising any planning application and any environmental impact assessment once they come in because of the sensitivity of the area.”

But Friends of the Earth (FOE) Cymru yesterday gave an early indication that it would be backing the proposals and suggested the impact on sea life would be negligible.

FOE Cymru energy campaigner Neil Crumpton said, “The scheme would benefit the birds in the sense that there are extra structures for them to perch on, which is something they do with marker buoys.

“The turbines are pretty low-impact in the marine environment. They have such a small footprint they would not be an issue.

“Also the turbines turn so slowly we are not going to end up with sliced dolphins.

“The only impact people might complain about is the visual one – for navigational reasons the structures have to be painted yellow.”

The Assembly Government’s Sustainability Minister Jane Davidson said she has long since backed the scheme.

“Later this month we will be publishing the Energy Routemap for Wales, setting out how we can become self-sufficient in renewable energy within 20 years, and projects like this will play a key role in achieving that,” she said.

Source: icWales (Link to original article )

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