As is the case with so many wave and tidal projects this is still the development phase, the information gathered in this project will be used in future projects. The project will be emissions free and advocates also say that is will be reliable and safe for the environment. The Irish Sea has seen its share of power projects which have harmed this sea on which many fishermen depend for their livelihood. Most notable is one of the largest nuclear facilities in Britain whose discharge have been measured across the Irish Sea.
The system has already been successfully tested off the coast of Devon. The project also recently received 7.5 million pounds or $15 million USD in backing from Triodos Bank. The location for the installation will be Strangford Lough with a Danish contractor set to commence installation in late August. The project will only be a demonstration and it is hoped that eventually the SeaGen project which came from the SeaFlow project will be expanded into a size where an array can be built.
Martin Wright who is the Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines was quoted as saying; “SeaGen’s installation is a very significant milestone for both Marine Current Turbines and the emerging marine energy sector. Following from our previous experience with SeaFlow, our 300kW experimental test system installed in 2003 off the north Devon coast, we are confident that SeaGen will show that tidal energy can be truly competitive with other forms of power generation. Decentralized tidal current energy is fundamentally predictable and sustainable. It is also environmentally benign.”
For additional information:
http://www.marineturbines.com/news.htm
