Tidal energy wish granted by Government's £250,000 grant

Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 07:00

A BRISTOL company that specialises in developing the latest technology for harvesting tidal energy has won a grant for £250,000.

Marine Current Turbines is planning to use the funding to pay for research into the next generation of tidal power turbines.

The firm will be working alongside the Queen's University Belfast, Mojo Maritime and Edinburgh University on the project. The grant has come from the Government's Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and will be used to develop a fully submerged version of the SeaGen tidal turbine. The company will lead the project, which will build on the success of its SeaGen tidal system that has been generating electricity for the National Grid for more than two years.

MCT's new technology will use similar turbines, power trains and control systems to those already proven with SeaGen.

The next-generation SeaGen will be able to be maintained above the surface of the water but will also have internal air-filled space to carry the equipment essential to connect the device to the National Grid.


Charles Hendry, the Energy Minister, said: "Wave and tidal stream technologies, such as SeaGen, have the potential to supply millions of homes with low carbon energy – reducing our dependency on foreign energy imports and cutting dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.

"SeaGen is an excellent example of the UK's world-class engineering and offshore expertise and skills."

Martin Wright, managing director of the firm, said: "The experience that we have gained with SeaGen's deployment and commercial operation is a huge asset in taking forward the development of the next-generation technology, and we greatly welcome the support given to us and our partners by the Technology Strategy Board, the EPSRC and the UK Government."

Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: "By 2050 we are going to have very different energy needs than we have today and we will be getting our energy from different sources.

"The UK is well placed to exploit wave and tidal stream energy resources with all of the coast line that we have, and it is expected this kind of technology will be an important part of the renewable energy mix needed in the future."