View Full Version : Wave energy plans announced
Ten sites on the seabed off the north coast of Scotland have been leased out to power companies in an effort to generate wave and tidal energy.
It appears that 8 of the 10 sites are in Orkney, with just two, Armadale & Duncansby on this side of the water
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8564662.stm
northener
16-Mar-10, 17:16
It will interesting to see how this develops.
There's a lot of optimism surrounding the long-term viability of tidal energy, but i wonder if we'll ever develop equipment robust enough to deliver the power without turning the Pentland Firth into a giant production field of machinery?
Sounds good - seem to remember (15?) years ago a wave device was tried off Dounreay and battered to bits? Hopefully these new ones are built to last..
Bit confused, it says: "and to Pelamis Wave Power for the Armadale site in the Pentland Firth off Sutherland." IS the Pentland Firth off Armadale - thought Armadale was too far west to be called Pentand Firth?.. maybe not.
I understand there are a lot of people expecting it to be the next Dounreay, financially speaking.
We should stop büggering about with this pedelo nonsense and get a new reactor fired up and then we can take a hacksaw to these windymills.
just a thought
captain chaos
16-Mar-10, 18:14
Typical that First Minister Salmond could not be bothered to get of his ass and come up to the North and announce the tidal and Wave power development.
Had to do it by live video.
Dog-eared
16-Mar-10, 18:19
The wave device off Dounreay was designed to fail.
David Banks
16-Mar-10, 20:22
. . . for these marine sources of free energy?
Are they going to be designed for the once-in-a-hundred-years' storms that the Pentland Firth will provide?
What will happen to the hydraulic oil or other fluids on board when one of these wave units gets smashed to smithereens?
What happens when the anchor chains get pulled out?
What level of damage to the marine environment (seals, whales, sellags) by the tidal turbines will be considered acceptable?
What happens to (ordinary) vessels that go adrift in the vicinity?
Who IS going to protect the marine environment? - I want names, addresses (no P.O. boxes) and telephone numbers.
Or are we just supposed to take everything on 'trust?'
(and this is me when I'm not being cynical)
I understand there are a lot of people expecting it to be the next Dounreay, financially speaking.
We should stop büggering about with this pedelo nonsense and get a new reactor fired up and then we can take a hacksaw to these windymills.
just a thought
I saw the Dounreay one in 'action' before it went into bits, it was a disaster. It is a great idea but I can't see the gear being robust enough. I genuinely hope it is though. Can't fault Phill's comments and love the hacksaw bit! Nuclear is the way to go.
Boozeburglar
17-Mar-10, 00:56
The wave device off Dounreay was designed to fail.
Har har!
Another conspiracy?
:)
I think that, as is widely being touted around the news just now, the hope that this will create a new Aberdeen in the area is a bit optimistic. It is a very different kettle of fish supporting exploration and production on hundreds of platforms manned by hundreds of people, to deploying and maintaining a few dozen unmanned bits of kit. Much of which will be built elsewhere then presumably shipped direct to site.
I think that, as is widely being touted around the news just now, the hope that this will create a new Aberdeen in the area is a bit optimistic. It is a very different kettle of fish supporting exploration and production on hundreds of platforms manned by hundreds of people, to deploying and maintaining a few dozen unmanned bits of kit. Much of which will be built elsewhere then presumably shipped direct to site.
Ahh but! You've missed the bit about dredging. We'll make a bloody fortune dredging up all the scrap metal once these things have bin' battered to bits.
Ahh but! You've missed the bit about dredging. We'll make a bloody fortune dredging up all the scrap metal once these things have bin' battered to bits.
Fancy a partnership with Fred in the scrap metal business? Mind you, our Nuclear Reactor restoration antics left a bit to be desired. :roll:
Mind you, our Nuclear Reactor restoration antics left a bit to be desired. :roll:
Sod the restoration, I'm building a new one in me bedroom.
A bit of upscaling and bingo..................
I think that, as is widely being touted around the news just now, the hope that this will create a new Aberdeen in the area is a bit optimistic. It is a very different kettle of fish supporting exploration and production on hundreds of platforms manned by hundreds of people, to deploying and maintaining a few dozen unmanned bits of kit. Much of which will be built elsewhere then presumably shipped direct to site.
1.3 gW is one hell of a lot of electricity, they ain't gonna ship that that lot south even with super pylons, they'd lose a quarter of it in line loss before it reached Denny anyway.
If it happens the industries that use a lot of electricity will move here.
Boozeburglar
17-Mar-10, 02:14
1.3 gW is one hell of a lot of electricity, they ain't gonna ship that that lot south even with super pylons, they'd lose a quarter of it in line loss before it reached Denny anyway.
If it happens the industries that use a lot of electricity will move here.
I reckon we will see the first logic-eccentric super city on mainland Scotland.
Thurso burgeoning to 2 million by 2050, fired up on 24 hour welding courses and electric flares.
Aaldtimer
17-Mar-10, 04:44
I saw the Dounreay one in 'action' before it went into bits, it was a disaster. It is a great idea but I can't see the gear being robust enough. I genuinely hope it is though. Can't fault Phill's comments and love the hacksaw bit! Nuclear is the way to go.
Aye LMS, I saw it too.
It was a perfectly good idea but was completely inadequately designed for the job.
IIRC, it was called "Osprey"(?), totally no inside support framework of any strength, and peeled like an orange in the mildest of weather, gentle swells etc.
God knows what would have happened to it in a gale![disgust]
Another grant of public money totally misused.:eek:
1.3 gW is one hell of a lot of electricity, they ain't gonna ship that that lot south even with super pylons, they'd lose a quarter of it in line loss before it reached Denny anyway.
If it happens the industries that use a lot of electricity will move here.
Yes that is a thought, I read about plans (can't remember where though :roll:) for a data centre based in Orkney taking power directly from it's own tide turbine.
cazmanian_minx
17-Mar-10, 11:38
Yes that is a thought, I read about plans (can't remember where though :roll:) for a data centre based in Orkney taking power directly from it's own tide turbine.
Thought it was Castle of Mey?
http://energy.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1222160/?UserKey=
1.3 gW is one hell of a lot of electricity, they ain't gonna ship that that lot south even with super pylons, they'd lose a quarter of it in line loss before it reached Denny anyway.
If it happens the industries that use a lot of electricity will move here.
No can't see that; postage will be too much (we're not part of the British Mainland you know!) ;)
Thought it was Castle of Mey?
http://energy.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1222160/?UserKey=
This is another one again, sounds like we might be in for some good news afterall. What sort of jobs do people do in data centres?
Penelope Pitstop
17-Mar-10, 12:12
Typical that First Minister Salmond could not be bothered to get of his ass and come up to the North and announce the tidal and Wave power development.
Had to do it by live video.
I'm not a fan of his, but in his defence he was up in Orkney in November to officially open one of the tidal projects when it started to generate.
I'm delighted at the prospect of some new industry up here, my goodness we don't half need it with the downturn in employment at Dounreay and businesses going out of business right left an centre.
However, I do fear that we won't see much of the manufacture of the huge equipment that these projects will utilise. It will be shipped in from yards further south, indeed some are gearing up for it already.
Orkney is excellent in promoting itself and again I fear that the Pentland Firth will be associated with Orkney and not Caithness.
northener
17-Mar-10, 13:20
1.3 gW is one hell of a lot of electricity, they ain't gonna ship that that lot south even with super pylons, they'd lose a quarter of it in line loss before it reached Denny anyway.
If it happens the industries that use a lot of electricity will move here.
No doubt there's a lot of support for this potentially huge area of power generation from all across Scotland.
I wonder how many will support the super pylons to ship it all South (assuming that such pylons would be feasable, of course)? I'll bet there'd be a huge outbreak of NIMBYism throughout the Highlands.
So yes, lets get some more industry up here. We have the space, good engineering skills, peopl;e who want to work and an excellent quality of life. You never know, Thurso might even get an Asda.........
I would think that the people who would be planning to invest the billions of bucks needed to make any worthwhile return on wave power in the north of Scotland area,would be able to put in place sufficiently robust hardware to cope with the prevalant conditions. An if the local marine life can cope with the pentland firth on a daily basis, I don't see too much of a problem there. There is an enormous potential out there, just a pity it will no doubt be foreign generated.
I thought you were talking sense for a minute there until...
...........Thurso might even get an Asda.........
Never!
I see that the majority of contracts are Orkney based. There is a wave/swell unit earmarked for Armadale but it would appear that Caithness has missed out on the award of contracts.
The wave power unit tested off Sandside pressurised as some valves had been left closed which should have been left open so it was dwn to human error. It was a gay flimsy affair and I doubt if it would havs survived a gale never mind a storm.
The Pelamis unit was tested at the EMEC site near Stromness 2/3 years ago but was never really proved as whenever there was a bit of motion it had to be towed to Lyness for repair. The company who manufactured this must have had a very good sales team as they sold 12 units to Portugul and as far as i am aware they were not a success.
The oyster unit tested at the EMEC site has survived the past winter but we have not had a bad winter with regards to westerly gales.
I believe installation of the Oyster did generate about £1,000,000 towards local business over the course of about 3 months last summer.
I would like to see power harnessed from wave and tide power but wheather they can manufacure units which can withstand the elements remains to be seen.:~(
redeyedtreefrog
17-Mar-10, 22:46
Weren't Google supposed to be doing something with data servers on little boats?
This is another one again, sounds like we might be in for some good news afterall. What sort of jobs do people do in data centres?
The datacentre is postponed last I heard, one of the companies/suppliers - I think they're called Starcraft (no, not the game) has pulled out and they were supplying equipment. Which is a shame as I was looking forward to it.
Depending on how its setup a datacentre could have:
Security jobs
Office Admin jobs
Possibly an in-house electrician
A small helpdesk perhaps
Web designers
Programmers/Software Engineers
System and Network administrators
Possibly the need for drivers also to ship equipment
David Banks
18-Mar-10, 09:51
1.3 gW is one hell of a lot of electricity, they ain't gonna ship that that lot south even with super pylons, they'd lose a quarter of it in line loss before it reached Denny anyway.
If it happens the industries that use a lot of electricity will move here.
The Chinese are shipping gobs of power from the Three Gorges without significant line losses - so it can be done.
I'd like to see more industry up north, but it will be shipped south as per bloody usual. Wave to the electrons, smile!
Penelope Pitstop
19-Mar-10, 16:36
The Chinese are shipping gobs of power from the Three Gorges without significant line losses - so it can be done.
I'd like to see more industry up north, but it will be shipped south as per bloody usual. Wave to the electrons, smile!
Aye, more industry for Caithness would be very good indeed.
The new Total gas plant is going to be in Shetland. Unfortunately Caithness has missed out again. Murkle bay and Brims obviously didn't hit the spot.
Aye LMS, I saw it too.
It was a perfectly good idea but was completely inadequately designed for the job.
IIRC, it was called "Osprey"(?), totally no inside support framework of any strength, and peeled like an orange in the mildest of weather, gentle swells etc.
God knows what would have happened to it in a gale![disgust]
Another grant of public money totally misused.:eek:
You are correct Aaldtimer, I was involved in some of the preperation work for its installation - it was a period of unsually calm weather when it broke.........if I recall the press statement mentioned unuusal weather conditions, but did not say it was flat calm:)
I see that the majority of contracts are Orkney based. There is a wave/swell unit earmarked for Armadale but it would appear that Caithness has missed out on the award of contracts.
The wave power unit tested off Sandside pressurised as some valves had been left closed which should have been left open so it was dwn to human error. It was a gay flimsy affair and I doubt if it would havs survived a gale never mind a storm.
The Pelamis unit was tested at the EMEC site near Stromness 2/3 years ago but was never really proved as whenever there was a bit of motion it had to be towed to Lyness for repair. The company who manufactured this must have had a very good sales team as they sold 12 units to Portugul and as far as i am aware they were not a success.
The oyster unit tested at the EMEC site has survived the past winter but we have not had a bad winter with regards to westerly gales.
I believe installation of the Oyster did generate about £1,000,000 towards local business over the course of about 3 months last summer.
I would like to see power harnessed from wave and tide power but wheather they can manufacure units which can withstand the elements remains to be seen.:~(
Maybe something to do with Lord Jim Wallace of Tankerness, who appears to have added renewable energy to thye list of things he has extensive knowledge of..........although he didn't seem to knowledgeable on the subject when I spoke to him in Bahrain in January.........nice enough fella right enough.
http://www.jimwallaceconsultancy.co.uk/
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