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Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT) is a UK-based company which is developing tidal stream generators.

MCT was founded in 2000 to develop ideas of tidal power
Tidal power

Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power....
 developed by Peter Fraenkel, who had previously been a founder partner of IT Power, a consultancy established to further the development of sustainable energy
Sustainable energy

Sustainable energy is the provision of energy such that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs....
 technologies. The company is based in Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
 and employed 15 people in 2007.

By 2003, MCT had installed a 300 kW experimental tidal turbine northeast of Lynmouth
Lynmouth

Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn River and East Lyn River rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway....
, Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
 and by 2008 they had a 1.5 MW turbine, SeaGen
SeaGen

SeaGen is the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream Electrical generator. It is four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world....
, in Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough is a lough in County Down, Northern Ireland, separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. It is a popular tourist attraction noted for its fishing and the picturesque villages and townships which border its waters....
, N.






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Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT) is a UK-based company which is developing tidal stream generators.

MCT was founded in 2000 to develop ideas of tidal power
Tidal power

Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power....
 developed by Peter Fraenkel, who had previously been a founder partner of IT Power, a consultancy established to further the development of sustainable energy
Sustainable energy

Sustainable energy is the provision of energy such that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs....
 technologies. The company is based in Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
 and employed 15 people in 2007.

By 2003, MCT had installed a 300 kW experimental tidal turbine northeast of Lynmouth
Lynmouth

Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn River and East Lyn River rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway....
, Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
 and by 2008 they had a 1.5 MW turbine, SeaGen
SeaGen

SeaGen is the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream Electrical generator. It is four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world....
, in Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough is a lough in County Down, Northern Ireland, separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. It is a popular tourist attraction noted for its fishing and the picturesque villages and townships which border its waters....
, N. Ireland which was able to feed electricity into the National Grid
National Grid

National Grid can refer to:Electric power transmission systems*National Grid, Malaysia, the electricity transmission network of Malaysia...
.

They now have contracts to install a full tidal farm in the Skerries
Skerries

Skerries is the plural of skerry, meaning a small rocky island.Skerries may refer to a number of geographical locations:...
, off northwest Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
 and projects in the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy is a Headlands and bays on the Atlantic Ocean coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canada Provinces of Canada of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the United States U.S....
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is a Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada....
 and Vancouver
Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest city in British Columbia and the second largest metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest region....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
.

Technology

The technology developed by MCT works much the same as a submerged windmill, driven by the flow of water rather than air. Tidal flows are more predictable than air flows both in time and maximum velocity and it is therefore possible to bring designs closer to the theoretical maximum. The turbines have a patented feature by which they can take advantage of the reversal of flow every 6 hours and generate on both flow and ebb of the tide. The tips of the blades are well below the surface so will not be a danger to shipping or be vulnerable to storms.

Because the blades are relatively slow moving (15 rpm)and there are only two, it is considered unlikely that there will be adverse environmental impacts on fish or other aquatic life, and a monitoring project has been set up in the Strangford Lough project to confirm this.

Two approaches are being followed, one for relatively shallow waters, up to , and the other for deeper waters. In shallow waters, the turbines are suspended on a tower which extends above the surface of the water and enables the turbines to be lifted clear of the water for maintenance purposes. But since the number of sites around the world where this is possible is finite, they are also developing fully submersed systems which will take advantage of larger scale, but will also be able to be brought to the surface for maintenance.

SeaFlow

The SeaFlow project involved building a full-size prototype capable of producing 300 kW. This was installed off the Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
 coast near Lynmouth
Lynmouth

Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn River and East Lyn River rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway....
 in May 2003. It was the largest tidal turbine operating until SeaGen started.

SeaGen

SeaGen
SeaGen

SeaGen is the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream Electrical generator. It is four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world....
 was the first full-scale tidal flow power station to be connected to the grid to produce electricity for consumption. It was due to be installed in 2007 but delays with the installation barge meant that it was not installed until March 2008 after being modified extensively to permit the use of a crane barge rather than a jackup as originally planned.

It produced electricity on 14 July 2008. However, subsequently a computer problem caused damage to one of the rotors and procuring a replacement took until towards the end of October 2008. However SeaGen was able to operate using just its good rotor through the summer of 2008 and that rotor was operated at full rated power of 600kW for many hours. After replacement of the damaged rotor SeaGen delivered its full rated power of 1.2MW for the first time on 18 December 2008 - believed to be the first time a "wet renewable energy system" has delivered in excess of 1MW.

The Skerries

In a joint project with Npower
Npower (UK)

Npower is a UK based electricity and natural gas supply company, formerly known as Innogy plc. As Innogy plc it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it is now owned by RWE of Germany....
, 7 of the SeaGen generators are to be installed off the Skerries, a patch of very fast moving water off Anglesey
Anglesey

Anglesey is an island and principal areas of Wales off the northwest coast of Wales, with a predominantly Welsh language-speaking population. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges spanning the Menai Strait: the original Menai Suspension Bridge , designed by Thomas Telford in 1826; and the newer reconstructed Britannia Bridge ; which...
 in northwest Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
. This will mark the first fully commercial use of the technology. Consent planning permission will be sought in 2009, with completion expected by 2011 or 2012.

Canada

An agreement has been made with Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
's Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation in 2007 to develop tidal resources in the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy is a Headlands and bays on the Atlantic Ocean coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canada Provinces of Canada of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the United States U.S....
. With a tidal range exceeding , and flows of up to , this area has long been favoured as the most promising source of tidal power and the newer tidal flow concepts mean that the associated shipping and environmental problems of barrage schemes are no longer prohibitive. MTEC concluded that MCT had the most proven technology of the companies evaluated..

On the west coast, they have also agreed to install at least three 1.2 MW turbines in the Campbell River
Campbell River, British Columbia

Campbell River is a Canada/cities in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the important coastal Inside Passage shipping route....
 in British Columbia
British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ....
 as a first step in developing tidal farms in that river and other tidal waters.

See also

  • Tidal Power
    Tidal power

    Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power....
  • npower UK
    Npower (UK)

    Npower is a UK based electricity and natural gas supply company, formerly known as Innogy plc. As Innogy plc it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it is now owned by RWE of Germany....


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