Jul 24 - Belfast Telegraph



By LINDA STEWART

THE team behind the tidal turbine at the mouth of Strangford Lough has been awarded Pounds 250,000 to develop a second- generation version capable of generating power from deeper waters.

Testing for the deep-water tidal turbine will be carried out in Strangford Lough by engineers from Queen's University Belfast working with Marine Current Turbines Ltd, Mojo Maritime and Edinburgh University.

MCT said it hopes to test a small temporary model of the new generation turbine off the QUB marine facility at Portaferry next summer.

 The eventual installation spot for the second-generation SeaGen has yet to be decided but it will be capable of being adapted for both deeper and shallower waters than the groundbreaking Strangford Lough turbine. The funding announcement was made by UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry who was visiting the Strangford Lough scheme yesterday.

The deep-water scheme is one of nine research and development projects across the UK which have received a total of Pounds 7 million from the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to help develop the wave and tidal energy technologies of the future.

Mr Hendry said the SeaGen project at Strangford is the largest structure of its kind in the world and is some of the most advanced renewables engineering developed to date.

"Of all the projects doing work on tidal areas, the one in Strangford Lough is the most advanced in the country.

"This is particularly important technology for the UK going forward," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"With 7,000 miles of coastline and some of the greatest tidal ranges in the world, we want to make the UK the most attractive place to invest in tidal marine technology."

Mr Hendry said wave and tidal stream technologies like SeaGen had the potential to supply millions of homes with low carbon energy, reducing the UK's dependence on foreign energy imports.

Originally published by LINDA STEWART, ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT, lstewart@belfasttelegraph.co.uk.

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