Projects
Projects: Projects for Investigator |
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| Reference Number | JOULE/1/2 | |
| Title | Tapping the Tidal Power Potential of the Eastern Irish Sea | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Renewable Energy Sources(Ocean Energy) 100%; | |
| Research Types | Basic and strategic applied research 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Applied Mathematics) 25%; ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) 25%; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences) 50%; |
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| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Systems Analysis related to energy R&D (Energy modelling) 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Professor R Burrows No email address given Centre for Engineering Sustainability University of Liverpool |
|
| Award Type | Standard | |
| Funding Source | Joule Centre | |
| Start Date | 01 June 2006 | |
| End Date | 31 December 2008 | |
| Duration | 30 months | |
| Total Grant Value | £288,601 | |
| Industrial Sectors | No relevance to Underpinning Sectors | |
| Region | North West | |
| Programme | ||
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Professor R Burrows , Centre for Engineering Sustainability, University of Liverpool (100.000%) |
| Web Site | ||
| Objectives | Objectives not supplied | |
| Abstract | In order for the UK to meet its ambitious targets for energy production from renewable sources (10% of electricity by 2010, 15% by 2020) it needs to expand its capacity to generate all forms of renewable energy and marine energy. This project is concerned with marine energy in the form of tidal power, specifically tidal barrages, and the UKs geographic location makes it ideal for these schemes. Indeed it was recently estimated that of the 500-1000TWh/year of energy believed to be available worldwide from barrage schemes, the UK holds 50TWh/year which is about half of the European resource. The North West of England has many suitable sites for barrage schemes and therefore has potential to generate a great deal of its electricity this way. Of all the potential UK sites, the Mersey is adjudged to be most feasible with its very narrow mouth meaning it needs a relatively short barrage and therefore has lower capital costs than other sites. Tidal barrages are effectively dams which are built across a river estuary, these raise the level of water on one side of the dam till its high enough to drive a turbine which is built in the dam. Barrages can operate in three different modes: ebb flow; flood flow and dual which is a combination of the two. Flood flow generation is where the entry of rising tidal levels into the estuary is delayed in order to raise the water level and ebb flow generation is where the exit of tidal water from the estuary is delayed. This project involved examining the effectiveness of the different modes of operation (flood flow, ebb flow, dual which is a combination of ebb and flood) at potential North West sites and assessing the performance of alternatives to barrages. Each mode permits energy generation for typically between 8 and 11 hours a day. This study found that the most effective mode for tidal barrages to operate in is ebb flow mode, it also found that turbine installations operating in this mode could produce up to 10% of present UK electricity need. Potential schemes on the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay, Mersey and the Dee, in the North West, could provide about half of the regions electricity requirement which is about 5% of the UK total demand. It was also found that the generation times from these potential North West schemes compliment another planned barrage scheme on the Severn estuary thereby extending the daily generation window from 11 hours to 20 hours. Other developments elsewhere in the country may enable a 15% contribution to electricity demand to be made from tidal range energy. There are a number of alternatives to barrage structures which dont require fixed structures however these were found to generate only a fraction of the power of barrages and in many cases were economically uncompetitive. | |
| Publications |  Burrows, R., Hedges, T.S., Chen, D.Y., Li, M., Najafian, G., Pan, S., Zhou, J.G., Walkington, I.A., Yates, N.C., Wolf, J., Holt, J., Proctor, R. and Prandle, D. (2008). Tapping the Tidal Power Potential of the Eastern Irish Sea. Presentation to the British Hydropower Association Annual Conference. 2008. (PDF 2654 KB) List of peer-reviewed publications (PDF 483 KB) Project summary (PDF 186 KB) |
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| Final Report | Tapping the Tidal Power Potential of the Eastern Irish Sea. FINAL REPORT. March 2009. R.Burrows, I.Walkington, N.Yates,T Hedges, D.Chen, M.Li, J.Zhou, J.Wolf, R.Proctor,J.Holt, D.Prandle (PDF 20892 KB) |
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| Added to Database | 12/01/12 | |
