A tri-nation accord between firms based in Ireland, France and the UK is to result in shared research technology designed to dramatically reduce risks faced by developers of renewable tidal and wave power schemes around north western European coast lines.
Known as MOREDATAS (Methods to Obtain Refined Environmental DATA from the Seas) the project addresses a variety of uncertainties faced by developers through the implementation of Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), which are seabed mounted acoustic devices used to measure tidal currents and wave heights. Next generation ADCPs will be deployed at a number of sites, over the course of the project.
The five companies include DynamOcean Sarl, the project coordinator from France, Applied Renewables Research Ltd., resource survey and assessment specialists based in Northern Ireland, Cork-based DP Energy which is developing 330 MW of tidal generation off the coasts of Northern Ireland and Scotland, Welsh based Tidal Energy Ltd. which has built the first full scale tidal turbine to be installed in Ramsey Sound, Pembrokeshire and Ecole Centrale de Nantes, operating the SEM-REV test site, located 20km from the west coast of France.
David Fitzgerald is Chief Resource Officer with DP Energy and Project Engineer for the Fair Head Tidal Energy Park off the coast of County Antrim. He says the outcome of the joint programme will be to reduce risk through the reduction of energy production uncertainty.
“Our objective is to deliver more robust design data so that developers of ocean energy can move more quickly in determining the most efficient and appropriate technologies, to ascertain more clearly whether or not a site is right and to generally provide them with a more accurate picture of the environment in which they are investing,” says Fitzgerald .
“Data will be collected at a number of sites with varying conditions and innovative processing techniques will be developed to further reduce uncertainty.”
Work on the Moredatas project is scheduled to begin at the end of 2015.
Image: Tidal Energy Ltd