RESEARCH GRANT AIMS TO DEVELOP TIDAL POWER

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RESEARCHERS WORKING to cut carbon emissions and boost energy security using tidal stream power are set to benefit from a £7m investment by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The project, Co-design to deliver Scalable Tidal Stream Energy (CoTide), will bring together three multidisciplinary teams from the universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Strathclyde. The group will work to make renewable energy generation from ocean tides cheaper, more reliable and scalable.

Achieving the UK’s target to reach net zero by 2050 requires the decarbonisation of all our energy supplies and a huge expansion of renewable generation from the current 50GW to 120-300GW, the EPSRC says. The powerful tides that surround the UK remain underutilised but have huge potential as a source of greener power that could make a significant contribution to that goal. Plus, unlike the wind and the sun, tides ebb and flow at predictable times every day and so have the advantage that they can provide power that is both renewable and reliable.

World-class engineering

The CoTide project will be led by the University of Oxford’s Professor of Engineering Science, Richard Willden. He explained: “We have a huge opportunity as a country to harness the powerful tides that surround us and use innovative engineering to develop greater energy security and clean energy to help us meet our 2050 net-zero goals. This EPSRC investment in CoTide allows us to bring together worldclass engineering expertise and drive forward the kind of creative, collaborative research that will ensure the UK remains a world-leader in tidal stream development and deployment.”

Benefits of tidal stream turbines

Unlike more traditional tidal barrages and tidal lagoons that require turbines to be installed in structures such as dams or sea walls, tidal stream turbines are fixed directly out at sea in the line of the strongest, most suitable tidal flows. They are cheaper to build and install, and crucially have less of an environmental impact.

But technical challenges remain and tidal stream systems require careful design to maximise power while providing reliability in hostile marine environments characterised by corrosive seawater and unsteady loading caused by waves, turbulence and sheared flows. To tackle that the CoTide team includes a spectrum of expertise in all relevant areas.

Sue Barr, chair of the UK Marine Energy Council, commented: “In order for tidal stream energy to become more competitive, we need real step changes in system performance, reliability metrics and scalability of the technology. This will require integrated tools which can be utilised by the sector to not only improve performance, but also increase confidence for investors and guarantors.” q