Abstract |
Launched in October 2011 this project involved Black & Veatch, in collaboration with HR Wallingford and the University of Edinburgh to develop a model of the UK Continental Shelf and North European Waters, 100 times more accurate than existing marine data. This has been used to assess the tidal energy potential around the UK (tidal range and tidal streams), to inform the design of energy harnessing schemes, to assess their interactions, and to evaluate their impact on European coasts. It can also be used to renew and inform flood defences, coastal erosion and aggregate extraction. Now completed, the project has been launched to market under the brand of SMARTtide. This is available to the marine industry under licence from HR Wallingford.
This deliverable is number 1 of 10 in the Tidal Modelling project and characterises the available tidal energy resource around the UK in order to determine likely sites for development in a horizon out to 2050, and for inclusion in the Continental Shelf Models developed elsewhere in the project. The report draws on previously published material in order to identify potential sites and then to consider those sites with different technology assumptions and design constraints. The report is organized in two parts:- Part A: Assesses the potential Tidal Range sites and identifies 10 barrage and 11 lagoon sites;
- Part B Assesses the potential Tidal Current sites and identifies 18 sites.
The approach and constraints, as well as a summary of the site choices can be found in the Executive summary |