Technology using an underwater "kite" to generate electricity from tides is to receive a £350,000 grant to test a prototype in the UK's seas, the Carbon Trust revealed.Skip related content
RELATED PHOTOS / VIDEOS
If the trial, which will put a small-scale device through its paces off the Northern Irish coast is successful, the developer behind the scheme wants to put enough structures in the seas to power all homes in a city the size of Newcastle.
The device works like a kite tethered to the seabed while "flying" through the sea current carrying a turbine.
The technology is able to operate in slower currents than any other tidal device, bringing more areas around the UK's coastline into use for renewable energy.
By flying in a figure of eight, the "Deep Green" device is able to increase the speed of the water flowing through the turbine by up to 10 times, allowing more power to be generated
The trial, selected by the Carbon Trust for a grant funded by Invest Northern Ireland, will see energy device developer Minesto UK Ltd test a one-tenth size prototype of the technology.
The grant will help the company gain site permits for installation, test how well the structure survives in the sea and develop models for the cost of the energy the device produces.
Benj Sykes, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: "The UK boosts some of the best tidal resources in the world and we are focused on bringing down the cost of extracting that energy.
"Minesto's Deep Green is a very exciting technology as it could provide a step change reduction in the cost of tidal energy and open up swathes of the UK's coast to generating electricity."
He said tidal energy had the potential to produce enough electricity to meet 5% of the UK's consumption.
No comments:
Post a Comment