SeaGen is the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream
generatorIn electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by a motor; motors and generators have many similarities...
. It is four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world.
The first SeaGen generator was installed in Strangford Narrows between
StrangfordStrangford is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated across Strangford Lough from Portaferry and is the main base for the Strangford Lough ferry service. It had a population of 474 people in the 2001 Census...
and
PortaferryPortaferry is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,467 people in the 2001 Census. It has an aquarium and is well-known for the annual Galway Hookers Regatta. It hosts...
in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in April 2008 and was connected to the grid in July 2008. It generates 1.2 MW for between 18 and 20 hours a day while the tides are forced in and out of
Strangford LoughStrangford Lough is a lough in County Down, Northern Ireland, separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula...
through the Narrows.
Interestingly, Strangford Lough was also the site of the very first known
tide millA tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall.A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes...
in the world, the
Nendrum Monastery millThe Nendrum Monastery mill was a tide mill on an island in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. It is the earliest excavated tide mill, dating from 787. Its millstones are 830mm in diameter and the horizontal wheel is estimated to have developed 7/8HP at its peak. Remains of an earlier mill dated...
where remains dating from
787- Religion :* The Second Council of Nicaea ends the first iconoclastic period in the Byzantine Empire....
have been excavated.
Marine Current TurbinesMarine Current Turbines Ltd is a UK-based company which is developing tidal stream generators.MCT was founded in 2000 to develop ideas of tidal power developed by Peter Fraenkel, who had previously been a founder partner of IT Power, a consultancy established to further the development of...
, the developer of SeaGen, demonstrated first prototype of tidal stream generator in 1994 with a 15 kilowatt system in
Loch LinnheLoch Linnhe is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland....
, off the west coast of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
SeaGen is the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream
generatorIn electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by a motor; motors and generators have many similarities...
. It is four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world.
The first SeaGen generator was installed in Strangford Narrows between
StrangfordStrangford is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated across Strangford Lough from Portaferry and is the main base for the Strangford Lough ferry service. It had a population of 474 people in the 2001 Census...
and
PortaferryPortaferry is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,467 people in the 2001 Census. It has an aquarium and is well-known for the annual Galway Hookers Regatta. It hosts...
in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in April 2008 and was connected to the grid in July 2008. It generates 1.2 MW for between 18 and 20 hours a day while the tides are forced in and out of
Strangford LoughStrangford Lough is a lough in County Down, Northern Ireland, separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula...
through the Narrows.
Interestingly, Strangford Lough was also the site of the very first known
tide millA tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall.A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes...
in the world, the
Nendrum Monastery millThe Nendrum Monastery mill was a tide mill on an island in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. It is the earliest excavated tide mill, dating from 787. Its millstones are 830mm in diameter and the horizontal wheel is estimated to have developed 7/8HP at its peak. Remains of an earlier mill dated...
where remains dating from
787- Religion :* The Second Council of Nicaea ends the first iconoclastic period in the Byzantine Empire....
have been excavated.
Background
Marine Current TurbinesMarine Current Turbines Ltd is a UK-based company which is developing tidal stream generators.MCT was founded in 2000 to develop ideas of tidal power developed by Peter Fraenkel, who had previously been a founder partner of IT Power, a consultancy established to further the development of...
, the developer of SeaGen, demonstrated first prototype of tidal stream generator in 1994 with a 15 kilowatt system in
Loch LinnheLoch Linnhe is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland....
, off the west coast of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In May 2003, the prototype for SeaGen, 'SeaFlow', was installed off the coast of
LynmouthLynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the north edge of Exmoor.The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, to which it is connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway....
,
North DevonNorth Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon district include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth....
, England. Seaflow was a single rotor turbine which generated 300 kW but was not connected to the grid. SeaFlow was the world's first offshore tidal generator, and remained the world's largest until SeaGen was installed.
Technology
SeaGen generator weights 300 tonnes. It consists of twin axial-flow rotors of in diameter, each driving a generator through a gearbox like a hydro-electric or wind turbine. These turbines have a patented feature by which the rotor blades can be pitched through 180 degrees allowing them to operate in both flow directions – on ebb and flood tides. The power units of each system are mounted on arm-like extensions either side of a tubular steel monopile some in diameter and the arms with the power units can be raised above the surface for safe and easy maintenance access. The SeaGen was built at
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
's
Harland and WolffHarland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a British diversified heavy industrial company specialising in shipbuilding, ship breaking, offshore construction, modular construction, civil and marine engineering, renewables and associated project management, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland.The...
's shipyards.
the power of the tide decreases and increases the amount of energy produced. higher power tide more energy, lower powered tide means less energy.
Environmental impact
SeaGen has been licensed to operate over a period of 5 years, during which there will be a comprehensive environmental monitoring programme to determine the precise impact on the marine environment.
Problems
During the commissioning of the system a software error caused the blades of one of the turbines to be damaged. This has left the turbine operating at half power until autumn 2008. The incident is being investigated and MCT is confident that it will not happen again.
Full power operation was finally achieved on 18 Dec 2008.
External links