OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems

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Of the test projects up to 3 MW, which are in various places around the UK, one is currently operating:
Siemens Marine Current Turbine’s Seagen machine at Strangford Lough (County Down). The other projects
are currently under development, including scoping and preparation of environmental impact assessments
(EIAs) to support consents applications. The same is generally true of the test and demonstration projects
between 3 MW and 50 MW, except ScottishPower’s 10 MW Sound of Islay tidal project, which received
consents from the Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) in March 2011. Several other projects are
awaiting consents decisions from either the Scottish Government (including Aquamarine Power’s 10 MW
Galson and 30 MW North West Lewis projects) or Welsh Government (including Siemens Marine Current
Turbines’ 10 MW Anglesey Skerries scheme).
The commercial projects of 50 MW+ are in two main areas: the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters strategic
area around the north of Scotland and the Rathlin Island and Torr Head strategic area off Northern Ireland.
In total they comprise approximately 90% (1,800 MW) of the total potential installed capacity of current UK
wave and tidal projects. The Pentland Firth and Orkney waters projects have been under development since
2010, including environmental scoping and EIA preparation. In July 2012, Meygen submitted a consents
application for its Inner Sound project to the Scottish Government. Following connection applications from
several of the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters developers, new grid infrastructure to enable wave and
tidal projects to be connected to the west of Orkney Mainland, and the power to be transmitted back to the
Scottish mainland, is being designed by transmission company Scottish Hydro Electrical Transmission (SHE
Transmission, part of SSE). Development of the Rathlin Island and Torr Head projects is getting underway,
following The Crown Estate awarding agreements for lease in October 2012.
The Crown Estate’s work to date
The Crown Estate’s strategic objective in wave and tidal energy is to support growth of the emerging industry,
attract significant investment to the sector and encourage major players to commit to development. We
are also helping government bodies to define policies that support development of the industry.
We have been providing seabed rights for wave and tidal projects for over ten years, starting with initial
prototype projects such as the IT Power (later to become Marine Current Turbines) Seaflow installation off
Lynmouth, Devon. However, the wave and tidal portfolio has shown particular growth since 2008, due to
the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters leasing round between 2008 and 2010, the Rathlin Island and Torr
Head leasing round from 2011 to 2012, and leasing of demonstration and small commercial projects over
the encompassing period – including via four six-month applications windows between autumn 2010 and
autumn 2012. During 2012, we ran an industry engagement exercise to invite views on where, when and
how we should lease further wave and tidal sites. We are currently reviewing the responses and updating
our leasing approach, with a further announcement planned in due course.
In 2009, we announced plans to support development of the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters projects
and subsequently established an enabling actions fund of £5.7m (US $9.0m). This is covering a range
of research, data gathering and other activities to de-risk development of the projects, across various
topics including environmental impact assessment, physical characterisation of sites and supply chain
development. Examples to date include a study to identify cumulative environmental impacts, near-shore
bathymetry surveys and a report on the products and services necessary to build the projects. The work is
selected and monitored by The Crown Estate and a Developers Forum, which comprises representatives
of the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters developers. Some of the work is done in partnership with other
organisations, including the Scottish Government and agencies (e.g. Marine Scotland and Highlands and
Islands Enterprise). A number of reports are free to download from our website 10 .
Looking ahead
The range of sites we have leased in UK waters reflects the diversity of activities underway here. Technology
developers and manufacturers are continuing to focus on testing devices to make them ready for
commercial deployment, while project developers are preparing sites to receive the devices in future years.
10
See http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/energy/wave-and-tidal/pentland-firth-and-orkney-waters/enabling-actions/
ANNUAL
REPORT 2012