Seagen tidecatcher makes its debut

Largest tidal stream power device in the world ready to launch

The innovative tide-harnessing turbine known as SeaGen is securely in place, linked up to the grid, and almost ready to start turning the rapid ebbs and flows of Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough into green electricity. The largest tidal stream power device in the world, with twin rotor blades measuring 16 metres across, it should also be the first to generate energy on a commercial scale when final tests are completed in a few weeks’ time. Turning at a stately (and therefore ‘fish-friendly’) 10-20 rotations a minute, it will produce enough electricity for a thousand average homes.

With a capacity rated at 1.2MW, it’s about half as powerful as a modern wind turbine, but with the advantage of highly predictable operating times of up to 18-20 hours per day. And you could hardly call it visually intrusive. Martin Wright, managing director of the developers Marine Current Turbines, says that his company has plans for a more sizeable commercial tidal farm of up to 10MW in UK waters within the next three years, adding: “With the right funding and regulatory framework, we believe we can realistically achieve up to 500MW of tidal capacity by 2015 [read 'Catch the tide' (GF67) for overall prospects for UK tidal power] based on this new SeaGen technology.”

24 June 2008

Roger East