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On the crest of a wave By Sonja van Renssen 03.03.2011 / 04:35 CET
Hydro and wave power are at different ends of the spectrum when it comes to generating capacity. The hydroelectric sector is Europe's oldest and largest renewable energy industry. Despite the storming advance of modern competitors such as wind, it still accounted for a whopping 70% of all renewables production in 2010. The vast bulk of this comes from ‘large hydro' plants (producers with the capacity to generate more than 10 megawatts of electricity), with ‘small hydro' (less than 10MW) making up just one-tenth. “Everybody forgets us,” says Christine van Oldeneel, managing director of the Hydro Equipment Association (HEA), which promotes large hydropower. “But we deserve a little bit of attention!” Nor is this simply a matter of size. Large hydro fulfils a vital function no other renewable energy can: it helps to stabilise the grid. “There is no bigger facility for energy storage right now,” says van Oldeneel. Large hydro produces 450 terra-watt hours (TWh) of electricity each year in Europe, equivalent to France's annual electricity consumption. This is huge – and it is a world away from a second water-related renewables sector: the fledgling wave and tidal power industry. The UK is the undisputed leader in this field, yet to date it has installed a mere 3.4MW of capacity, all of it in the prototype stage.
Money worries With one very mature technology and another that is only now being deployed, Europe has two water-related renewables sectors facing very different challenges. Traditional hydro finds that its biggest challenges are environmental legislation and public opinion, while the wave and tidal sector principally needs money. “The most important challenge [we face] is in licensing procedures,” says Lauha Fried from the European Small Hydropower Association (ESHA). “In many member states it simply takes too much time” – sometimes up to ten years. Environmental laws, such as the EU's water framework directive, can severely delay new hydro plants. Van Oldeneel argues that the off-site benefits of hydroelectric plants, such as helping to manage flooding, should be considered in environmental impact assessments. To help convince local people that hydro projects will benefit, not harm, their communities, small producers in Italy have joined together with the environmental group WWF to develop a green certification scheme that guarantees a small hydro plant's sustainability. The certificate, CH2OICE, was launched last week (25 February). The emerging wave and tidal sector is ready to deploy its first 5-10MW arrays. At £40m-£80m (€47m-€94m) each, they are expensive. “You could say we're at the pinnacle of the cost curve,” admits Oliver Wragg from the trade association RenewableUK. Rolls-Royce and some utility companies are interested in the technology, but the industry is also asking the UK government for tens of millions in public funding. Despite their differences, the traditional hydro and new wave and tidal industries share common interests. One is the grid: both stress the need for grid expansion to allow them to fulfil their potential. A second is innovation: more efficient, fish-friendly and oil-free turbines and a sub-sea infrastructure for wave and tidal power are examples. A third is growth: the large hydro sector estimates there are still some 125TWh of untapped potential in Europe, plus opportunities linked to modernisation. ESHA's members have plans for 54.7TWh by 2020. Wragg has perhaps the greatest expectations: 2.2GW of installed capacity – equivalent to two nuclear power plants – within a decade. © 2011 European Voice. All rights reserved.
2011-03-04 10:45