7 minute read
to ocean energy industry Climate power plant
High water level tank Shutter valve Pump/turbine Control & monitoring unit Low water level tank
Tidal test set-up at HZ, with a high and low basin.
Climate Power Plant
COMBINING WATER SAFETY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION AND STORAGE
MARINE ENERGY TODAY EXISTS IN MANY FORMS, HOWEVER MOST INITIATIVES TO REALISE MARINE ENERGY POWER PLANTS ARE STILL IN THEIR INITIAL PHASE. UPSCALING AND COMMERCIALISATION HIGHLY DEPENDS ON PARTIES WILLING TO INVEST.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF HZ UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES, UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE. Like many other innovatons, expenses of development are high and make investors hesitant, not in the least as many relevant companies have been focusing on the development of ofshore wind and solar energy that recently lef their infancy to become price compettve sources. In the Netherlands, a research-consortum is working on a power plant that combines the functonality of a tdal power plant with a water pumping staton. With this innovatve soluton, a so-called pumping tdal power plant, tdal power can – at reduced costs – be added to a pumping staton (which is necessary to face the rising sea level). As this facility adapts to climate change (pumping) and also mitgates (producton of clean electricity), it is called a Climate Power Plant. The lead partner involved is HZ University of Applied Sciences (Vlissingen, the Netherlands) and Ofshore Industry has a word with Professor Jacob van Berkel from this educatonal insttute.
Huge potential
Mr Van Berkel proposed the development of a climate power plant in his inaugural speech in 2017, when he joined HZ as Lector Delta Power. “Vlissingen is located in the Dutch province of Zeeland, which is part of a river delta and thus surrounded by water”, Mr Van Berkel says. “Flowing water, wind, and sun are sources of energy that we have a surplus of over here. By cleverly using these sources, sustainable electricity can be generated in several ways. Which technique is the best one? And what yields the most at
reasonable costs? How can we store energy and restore it to the net? What is the best opton for the surroundings? What is ecologically sound? Our research group Delta Power carries out applied research and educaton to fnd answers to these questons.” “Marine energy has a huge potental,” Mr Van Berkel contnues, “but it is at this moment expensive, especially when looking at ofshore wind that has been able to enormously reduce costs through its current economy of scale. Large-scale deployment and technology development are necessary to bring down costs. Market and policy makers currently focus on ofshore wind power, losing sight of the potental of marine energy to provide a stable, predictable supplement to low-carbon electricity supply from solar and wind power.”
Predictable
Mr Van Berkel has been fascinated by tdal energy for many years. “Like other forms of marine energy, one of the unique advantages of tdal energy is its predictability. Tidal energy is in fact generated by the pull of the moon that causes the high and low tde and, besides the efect of wind, this can be predicted for centuries ahead. Compared with power generated from wind or sun, one always knows quite accurately how much power can and will be generated from a tdal power plant per day, per week, per year and even longer.” Being a country near the sea, the Netherlands has a lot of know-how and experience with tdal energy. On the other hand, by being partally located below sea level, the Dutch have built up a huge track record in protecton against the sea by the use of dikes, storm surge barriers, and pumps. “One of the challenges that near shore countries, especially those with river deltas, are facing today is the rising level of the sea caused by climate change”, comments Mr Van Berkel. “River deltas are ofen densely populated and industrialised. As a result of this, they are part of the greenhouse gas emissions and changing climate. At the same tme, the rising sea level has a large efect on these regions, and it can be expected that more measures need to be taken to protect river deltas and countries as a whole against the rising sea. One of the solutons is to install additonal pumps.”
Technically feasible
“In our soluton,” Mr Van Berkel says, “these new pumps could well be constructed as a >>
Professor Jacob van Berkel of HZ University of Applied Sciences.
Photo courtesy of Municipality Goeree-Overfakkee.
Artist impression of a pump & turbine installation integrated in the Dutch Brouwersdam between the North Sea and Lake Grevelingen.
Photo courtesy of Pentair Fairbanks Nijhuis.
A special feature of the propellor is that the blades are symmetrical to be effcient in both forward and backward modes. Potential applications may be found around the world, the rising sea level is a world-wide phenomenon, as well as the need for renewable energy (all dots indicate possible locations. The red dots show locations with populations higher than 400,000).
Image courtesy of RWS/Deltares.
pump & turbine installaton. Pumps operate when necessary and are ofen not in use. By reversing the operaton of the pump when idle, it could act as a turbine for generatng electricity. The prototype constructed by the Dutch company Nijhuis with a 30cm diameter rotor proves that this is technically feasible on a small scale. Our next goal is to prove that the technology also functons on a larger scale. We ultmately think that installatons with 8m diameter rotors should be possible.” According to Mr Van Berkel, the advantages of the Climate Power Plant are evident as it covers multple purposes. The concept can be implemented in both new and existng pumps, making it a highly fexible soluton that can be used on a world-wide scale in many situatons. We are at present investgatng, together with Dutch utlity providers, the possibility of using the system for short-term grid stabilisaton with the estuary actng as an energy storage facility. In our opinion, this could be very helpful in case of short-term storage of energy, making it a useful soluton for balancing the supply and demand of electricity.”
Challenges
Although the prototype demonstrates that the Climate Power Plant is technically feasible, there are, alongside fnancing, stll some other challenges to overcome. “We have shown with our prototype that our idea is technically feasible but when upscaling to larger sizes, we will have to deal with several challenges”, Mr Van Berkel explains. “First of all, we need to know if the technical solutons we used in the prototype are ft for larger sizes. How will the materials of the structure withstand operatng in the ‘real’ environment?” The installaton should be able to switch very swifly between pumping and generatng electricity (socalled turbining) and is therefore equipped with, among other things, a fast-switching valve and a reversible propellor. A special feature of the propellor is that the blades are symmetrical to be efcient in both forward and backward modes. These features will enable a fexible four quadrant operaton: forward/backward and pumping/ turbining. “Everything seems to work out fne in our scale model, but how will the fast-switching work with larger propellors and valves, and how will the parts work under the harsh circumstances near shore? We also need to know how our Climate Power Plant afects the animals and natural life in the installaton’s surroundings, which makes the upscaling to an installaton in real circumstances important”, Mr Van Berkel explains.
World-wide potential
Potental applicatons may be found around the world, the rising sea level is a worldwide phenomenon, as well as the need for renewable energy. The size of a Climate Power Plant depends very much on the local conditons. In principle it could have a size comparable with the largest tdal power plants that exist today (250MW). “When capitalised, tdal energy is worth 10% more than ofshore wind because of its predictable availability, however, today it stll is more expensive, and the queston now is whether tdal energy will be given the chance just like ofshore wind to become successful. Our soluton of combining producton of tdal energy with pumping against rising sea levels, will reduce the cost of both. Perhaps this will help to encourage possible investors and constructors and promote marine energy towards the same popularity as ofshore wind”, Mr Van Berkel concludes.
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