[Oakley]

The potential energy in the oceans has the same capture problems as the energy in the sun; the energy is diffuse, not concentrated, and that makes the cost of collecting it relatively high in relationship to what is collected. There is plenty of gold and algae in the oceans also, but the cost to collect it is just too high.

[Newfie]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1218342.html

Companies to discuss turbine today
Damaged unit expected to reach Dartmouth Dec. 30
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Tue, Dec 21 - 4:53 AM

Officials from Irish tidal energy company OpenHydro and Dartmouth’s Cherubini Metal Works will meet today and Wednesday to prepare for the arrival of their badly damaged $10-million experimental turbine.

A specially built barge designed by OpenHydro is carrying the doughnut-shaped damaged turbine to Cherubini’s yard from Parrsboro, where it was pulled from the seabed on Thursday.

Depending on weather conditions, the turbine is expected to arrive Dec. 30.

Steve Ross, Cherubini’s general manager, expects to find out the extent of the work that will be required for Cherubini when OpenHydro’s technical team arrives at the yard.

The turbine, which weighs between 40 and 45 tonnes, is to be lifted off the barge at the Cherubini fabrication facility and brought inside, where OpenHydro wants to conduct a forensic analysis of what caused all 12 blades to break off, said Ross on Monday.

"They are trying to discover what happened, and I think they have an onboard computer that they have to get some information out of."

Cherubini fabricated the 400-tonne gravity sea base of the turbine in the summer of 2009 for $1.9 million.

The one-megawatt tidal turbine, manufactured in Ireland by OpenHydro, was deployed in November 2009 in the Bay of Fundy. It was retrieved a year earlier than planned, due to blade breakage and wireless sensor failures.

The Chronicle Herald was the first to report that the utility lost contact with the turbine seven days after it was launched. Wireless sensors attached to it were to collect data about potential electrical production and environmental impact.

Then in June, OpenHydro and its partner Nova Scotia Power announced they had discovered that two blades made from blends of plastic and glass had broken off the turbine. This malfunction forced OpenHydro to pull the device out of the water.

Last Friday, Nova Scotia Power and OpenHydro held a news conference to announce that the turbine had been recovered from the Minas Passage, about 10 kilometres west of Parrsboro in about 30 metres of water.

James Ives, OpenHydro’s president, revealed that all 12 blades were missing but the rest of the turbine was intact and in good condition.

Ives said it will be months before a decision is made as to whether the turbine should be fixed or a new turbine deployed.

"That’s a decision we’ll make further down the road. We are totally committed to re-installing this turbine and continuing this program," Ives said Friday. "We’ve got an enormous amount of data from this turbine. We’re going to analyze that and we’re going to inspect the turbine."

He said the privately owned technology company probably underestimated the force of tidal currents that caused the blades to pop out.

Ives refused to reveal how much the recovery of the turbine will cost, except to say that Nova Scotia Power customers would not be paying the tab.

Despite the setbacks, both companies remain optimistic the project will move forward.

"Tidal flows are the single most important input into tidal economics, so the stronger flow of water the better the tidal farm and, really, what we are seeing is the Bay of Fundy is really at the top of the list in terms of the best tidal farm in the world," said Ives.

"We’ve got turbines in other parts of the world that are running extremely well. This is the only occurrence we’ve had of this issue."

The turbine cost $10 million, with Nova Scotia Power investing the lion’s share, and $4.6 million coming from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a non-profit green energy foundation with offices in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Two other groups — Minas Basin Pulp and Power and partner Marine Current Turbines Ltd. of Bristol, England; and Alstom Hydro of France with Clean Current Power Systems Inc. of Vancouver — plan to deploy test turbines in the Bay of Fundy in 2012.

[Graeme]

Ocean Energy Gaining Steam

Siemens is raising its equity stake in an company developing tidal energy plants, a sign the technology is gaining mainstream attention.

Siemens raised its stake in UK-based tidal energy developer Marine Current Turbines from less than 10% to 45%, because it likes the predictability of ocean energy, reports Technology Review.

While solar and wind farms find it hard to project the next day's output, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun couldn't be more reliable. It can calculated centuries in advance, Michael Axmann, CFO for Siemens's solar and hydro division told Technology Review.

This low volatility increases the value of the energy produced, making it less risky for investors and operators.

Axmann predicts tidal energy will be cost competitive with offshore wind by 2020, even with the difficulties of developing under water systems.

ibtimes

[WildRose]

Below, a good site for ocean energy news:

http://www.oceanenergycouncil.com/index ... ergy-News/

[WildRose]

Next EnergyOcean International Conference will be in Boston, MASS in June, 2012:

http://www.energyocean.com/

That's one I'd be interested in attending.

[Graeme]

Wave, Tidal, Hydro Can Provide 1/3 of US Electricity by 2030

Two reports released today by the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) show that the nation’s conventional hydropower, wave, tidal and other water power resources hold the potential to provide 15% of all the electricity the US needs by 2030. The DOE’s new wave and tidal resource assessment reports represent “the most rigorous analysis undertaken to date to accurately define the magnitude and location of America’s ocean energy resources,” according to a DOE press release.

US demand for electricity amounts to about 4,000 terawatt (TWh), or 4 quadrillion Watt-hours, of energy per year. Overall, renewable US hydropower resources account for 6%. The average lightning strike’s peak power is said to be about 1 TW. However, according to the DOE’s analysis, maximum theoretical generation from waves and tidal currents is 1,420 TWh, about 1/3 that total.

While the DOE acknowledges that not all these resources may be economically or technologically feasible to develop, the results demonstrate the vast potential that does exist, potential that if realized would spur investment, manufacturing and commercial activity on nationwide scale, not to mention spurring green job creation on a very large scale.

The two reports, entitled “‘Mapping and Assessment of the United States Ocean Wave Energy Resource‘ and ‘Assessment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the United States,’ calculate the maximum kinetic energy available from waves and tides off U.S. coasts that could be used for future energy production, and which represent largely untapped opportunities for renewable energy development in the United States,” the DOE explains.

cleantechnica

[seahorse3]

Your title is misleading. The article says not all the technologies exist or are economically feasible. You seed bs.

[ralfy]

The same is being used in some countries, with mixed effects, esp. due to consistency of energy produced from wave and the effects of climate change on hydro.

[Ferretlover]

Electricity from waves? Idea could swim, or sink, off Oregon
'First commercial deployment in the U.S. is very, very positive,' European observer says By Kirk Johnson

PORTLAND, Ore. — About 15 years ago, this environmentally conscious state with a fir tree on its license plates began pushing the idea of making renewable energy from the ocean waves that bob and swell on the Pacific horizon. But then one of the first test-buoy generators, launched with great fanfare, promptly sank. It was not a good start.
But time and technology turned the page, and now the first commercially licensed grid-connected wave-energy device in the nation, designed by a New Jersey company, Ocean Power Technologies, is in its final weeks of testing before a planned launch in October. The federal permit for up to 10 generators came last month, enough, the company says, to power about 1,000 homes. When engineers are satisfied that everything is ready, a barge will carry the 260-ton pioneer to its anchoring spot about two and a half miles offshore near the city of Reedsport, on the central coast.
“All eyes are on the O.P.T. buoy,” said Jason Busch, the executive director of the Oregon Wave Energy Trust, a nonprofit state-financed group that has spent $10 million in the last six years on scientific wave-energy research and grants, including more than $430,000 to Ocean Power Technologies alone. Making lots of electricity on the buoy and getting it to shore to turn on lights would be great, Mr. Busch said. Riding out the storm-tossed seas through winter? Priceless. “It has to survive,” he said. …

The New York Times

[Graeme]

New System to Harness Energy from Ocean Currents

Researchers at the UPM, within the framework of PROCODAC-GESMEY project, have participated in the construction and testing of the prototype of a device to harness energy from ocean currents able to work in deep water.

In collaboration with the Astilleros Balenciaga company and the Fundación Centro Tecnológico Soermar, researchers at the Group of R&D GITERM, assigned to the Higher Technical School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, are participating at the PROCODAC project, focused on the design, construction and testing on a marine environment of an experimentation prototype at a ten to one scale of what would be an industrial unit able to provide a 1MW of electricity (GESMEY project). This prototype is complemented by an underwater buoy that was designed to operate in areas of 40 metres of depth.

The test results were very successful and have confirmed that this prototype can produce the expected energy and to be maneuvered by remote control, what can be of interest to use it in future underwater power plants.

sciencedaily

[Graeme]

European Consortium Aiming For 100,000 MW Ocean Energy By 2050

The European Commission published an ambitious Action Plan for “Blue Energy” on 20 January that should pave the way to a vibrant European ocean energy industry. Ocean Energy Europe, a consortium that includes Eon, Alstom and EDF, takes tidal and wave energy very seriously. It has a goal of 100,000 MW installed in European waters by 2050.

Ocean energy encompasses all offshore renewable energy technologies that are not wind. In practice, we’re talking primarily about wave and tidal energy, plus less developed thermal and salinity gradient power (based on exploiting differences in seawater temperature and salinity, respectively).

There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind about the potential: “The ocean energy resource available globally exceeds our present and projected future energy needs,” highlights the Commission in its action plan. The UK’s Carbon Trust estimates that wave and tidal energy could grow into a half-a-trillion Euro market by mid-century. The cherry on the cake is that Europe has a foot in the door already: most of the relevant technology developers are based there.

cleantechnica

[Tanada]

Thanks Graeme, this is hopeful news!

[Stinky Bill]

Oregon wave energy stalls off the coast of Reedsport
Employees at Oregon Iron Works in Clackamas built a prototype of a wave energy buoy in April 2010. More than three years later, it's sitting idle, waiting to be deployed in the waters off the coast of Reedsport
The Oregonian By Elizabeth Case, The Oregonian
on August 30, 2013 at 10:01 AM, updated September 01, 2013 at 6:46 PM

Last September, with great fanfare, Ocean Power Technologies began construction on America's first wave-powered utility. Holding the first - and only - wave energy permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, OPT had planned to deploy a test buoy off the coast of Reedsport by spring.

But a year after the permit, regulatory and technical difficulties have all but halted the project. Federal regulators notified the company earlier this year it had violated the license after failing to file a variety of plans and assessments.

All that remains in the water are pieces of a single anchoring system on the ocean floor. State officials have told the New Jersey company to remove them by month's end.

Leading a new industry has been rough sailing for OPT, as state and federal agencies scramble to write policies for marine energy, and coastal communities worry about fishing grounds and environmental protection. Powerful enough wave technology that can elbow a niche in the energy industry remains a work in progress.

And now, after missing multiple, self-imposed deadlines since it went public in 2007, OPT now makes vague promises to test their first buoy in Oregon waters no later than 2016.

Power Buoy has now been broken up and sold for scrap.

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/i ... s_off.html

[Quinny]

Sad.

[Graeme]

Climate Change Solution – Ocean Energy Turbine

“The ocean’s currents have enough usable power to replace all Fossil Fuel and Nuclear Energy Dependence. Using Ocean Energy Turbines to harness this clean renewable energy to power the world is a real solution to Pollution and Climate Change.”


Who is Crowd Energy?

CrowdEnergy is a small collection of Engineers, Inventors, and Scientists.
We have specialists in SubSea Engineering, Oceanography, Marine Ecology and Conservation, Electrical Engineering, Fabrication and Design. “Imagine nerds in wetsuits and flippers…”
What is the goal of Crowd Energy?

Our goal is to find a practical and responsible way to replace the use of Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Energy. There are many promising forms of renewable energy in the world today, but most are limited by the consistency and quantity of renewable energy that can be produced. We decided to to identify a renewable energy source that was capable of consistent clean energy production and in a quantity that could satisfy the world growing energy needs. We have identified this source and have made great progress in developing a realistic and reliable means of harnessing this energy.

crowdenergy

[Graeme]

Construction Of Six Tidal Lagoons Could Contribute £27 Billion To The UK Economy

The Centre for Economics and Business Research in the UK has published a report assessing the benefits that would come from Tidal Lagoon Power’s proposed construction of six tidal lagoons across the country.

The proposed construction would contribute £27 billion to the UK economy over the twelve-year period, employing an annual average of 36,000 over the period and up to 71,000 jobs at its peak. Upon completion, the lagoons would not only produce enough energy to power almost 8 million homes, but it would also contribute £3.1 billion annually over the 120-year design life.

“The UK will soon decide whether or not to embrace tidal lagoon infrastructure,” said Mark Shorrock, CEO of Tidal Lagoon Power. “Having analysed all of the costs and all of the savings associated with this decision, this study clearly demonstrates that the annual benefits to the national economy would be enormous, immediate and long-lived.”


Further highlights from the CEBR report include:

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

IRENA Evaluates Four Ocean Energy Technologies

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has published a series of technology papers exploring the potential for power generation and other sustainable applications from ocean energy. The papers cover the main features and current status of four technology types: tidal energy; wave energy; ocean thermal energy conversion; and salinity gradient energy.

The four Technology Briefs, launched in June 2014, are the first publications by IRENA on ocean energy technologies. The briefs examine the development readiness and deployment dynamic of each technology, including: process and technology status; costs, cost projections and performance; potential and future prospects; and challenges, barriers and drivers.

Presenting on the publications, Linus Mofor, Analyst at the IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre, noted that, while the potential of ocean energy is estimated at 100-400% of global electricity demand, its contribution to the global energy mix is expected to continue to be small in the short to medium terms.

The Brief on tidal energy describes progress and status in three technology categories: tidal range technologies, with well-established commercial viability; tidal current technologies, entering the demonstration stage; and hybrid applications, with great potential if integrated in new infrastructure for coastal zones. Overall, with total global capacity in 2012 standing at only 520 MW, IRENA estimates the total technically harvestable tidal energy potential located near coasts at one terawatt.

The Brief on wave energy notes that, despite over 100 pilot and demonstration projects over the world, only a handful of technologies are close to commercialization. Owing to limited commercial experience, the estimates for levelized cost of electricity in 10 MW demonstration projects is high, at €330-360/MWh, but IRENA finds considerable scope for economies of scale and learning, and important reductions in cost at higher deployment levels over time.

Describing ocean thermal energy conversion as having the highest potential of all ocean energy technologies, the respective Brief notes that: these technologies could supply the total worldwide power generation capacity with zero impact on ocean temperature profiles; 98 countries and territories have been identified as having viable resources; the technologies are particularly suitable for remote islands in tropical seas; and existing barriers include high up-front capital costs and lack of experience in building at scale.

energy-l.iisd

[Graeme]

NASA helps harness an ocean of energy

NASA is helping the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) harness the power of the oceans by first harnessing the power of the crowd.

Ocean waves hold a tremendous amount of energy that is almost entirely untapped, despite our ever-growing need for sustainable, non-polluting electricity. Part of the reason we haven't yet plugged into this potential power source is that developing the technology to do so is too expensive for many of the people and institutions that are interested in working the problem.

"It takes a lot of money to build something, deploy it in the water and test it," said Noël Bakhtian of the DOE's Wind and Water Power Technologies Office. "It would be a lot easier to have computational tools, where you can study a whole range of inputs and say, 'What if I made the device twice as big? What if the wavelength of the waves was a little bit different? What if I pushed it out into the ocean a little bit deeper?'"

The DOE wants to be able to offer modeling software to everyone with a potentially great idea for extracting energy from ocean waves. And they're counting on crowdsourcing to help them to do it.

The challenge

Working through the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Sandia National Labs, DOE is developing a modeling tool called WEC-Sim (Wave Energy Converter Simulator). With WEC-Sim, technologists will be able to see how well their designs would squeeze electricity out of the motion of the ocean under a wide variety of conditions.

phys.org