Could this work around here?

[wingdiver]

Finally an alternative energy source with some chance of consistent energy rather than the expensive ornaments on the windfarms -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24100811
Is there anywhere in our cruising area that might be considered?

 

[sailorman]

Finally an alternative energy source with some chance of consistent energy rather than the expensive ornaments on the windfarms -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24100811
Is there anywhere in our cruising area that might be considered?

I believe the French have some in Brittany

 

[tillergirl]

What sort of tidal speeds do they need, I wonder? Best speeds are in the Black Deep and West Swin, neither suitable locations.

 

[DavidofMersea]

I think they also need to be quite deep, and we don't have much "Deep" on the East Coast

 

[sailorman]

I think they also need to be quite deep, and we don't have much "Deep" on the East Coast

They could mount them above the water

 

[DavidofMersea]

They could mount them above the water

There are 10 of that sort at Bradwell

 

[sailorman]

There are 10 of that sort at Bradwell

And another 5 to your East

 

[Sixpence]

If nothing else, they would be more reliable than the windy miller stuff they've got out there now. They know where the tidal flow is strongest, maybe position them further out at sea rather than looking coastal.

 

[penfold]

You could have tidal pens given all the flat areas you have, but the small height of the tide makes it marginal and the high turbidity of the east coast might cause rapid silting; were there not experimental tidal pens built on Maplin or somewhere like that?

 

[sailorman]

You could have tidal pens given all the flat areas you have, but the small height of the tide makes it marginal and the high turbidity of the east coast might cause rapid silting; were there not experimental tidal pens built on Maplin or somewhere like that?

If all the East Coast windgens were placed off Dover you wouldnt see France

 

[Mariner69]

If all the East Coast windgens were placed off Dover you wouldnt see France

And the problem is?

 

[sailorman]

And the problem is?

We have far more than our fair share. That is the problem & they are now being planted in deeper waters just to compound the problem.
Apart from that no problem

 

[Sixpence]

Just had a look outside, nope, can't see France, you're correct, must be the windy millers

 

[sailorman]

Just had a look outside, nope, can't see France, you're correct, must be the windy millers

All you would see is a very large tesco sign

 

[Otter]

If only there was some alternative to flukey, unreliable wind energy. If only there was some great liquid mass that would flow relentlessly back and forth, regardless of wind or weather. Never mind, just a dream I suppose.

 

[sailorman]

If only there was some alternative to flukey, unreliable wind energy. If only there was some great liquid mass that would flow relentlessly back and forth, regardless of wind or weather. Never mind, just a dream I suppose.

we had 2 watermills in our village in the 30s

 

[Athene V30]

Why not fill the outside gaps in the Thames Barrier? Just leave the central ones for traffic? Tide only goes in and out a couple of times every day.

 

[FullCircle]

What sort of tidal speeds do they need, I wonder? Best speeds are in the Black Deep and West Swin, neither suitable locations.

Pentland Firth has up to 16 knots I believe, although the Mey Gen inner area they are working with is around 5 knots.


Tidal technology does not work well with vortices of water, which we have in abundance, as we all know (thinking back eddies round the Edinburgh Channel for instance).


This report outlines the difficulties of tides and predictions for power assessment. Tricky when our sandbanks can change by 2m in a week of gales.

http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~shs/Tidal Stream/Draft Pentland Firth Resource Assessment Paper.pdf

 

[dennyjc]

What sort of tidal speeds do they need, I wonder? Best speeds are in the Black Deep and West Swin, neither suitable locations.

As you know from Sail design - Derived power is related to the cube of wind speed.
and so with water turbine design.
with a comfortable 6kts peak current in Pentland firth compared with a comfortable 1.5kts current on the east coast
the speed ratio is 4:1 but the derived power ratio is 64:1
So no company will invest in water turbines in the shallow shifty east coast when there's such rich picking up north.
Thank goodness - as much as I love green energy - There's enough stuff out there already.