Tidal energy generator experiments in Littlehampton.

[rotrax]

Recieved a notice from the Littlehampton HA stating that tidal energy experiments are to be carried out in the lower Arun.

It sounds like generators mounted below floating pontoons.

As the Arun is the fastest flowing river in England it is a prime candidate for this.

 

[sarabande]

Any more details, rotrax, please ? I'm very interested in e.g. flow rates/sec if poss, and also the height delta.


Here's our local river in spate by the hydro-electric station.

66000 litres every second. That's 5.7 million tonnes of water every 24 hours. We can convert less than a twelfth of that to electricity,

 

[Wansworth]

Yes you either went out for two hours or stayed out till the tide turned?

 

[rotrax]

If you go to the LHA website and Notice to Mariners it is just about the location of the pontoons.

Both the Arun and Adur rise close together and drain the South Downs. The Rother joins the Arun too.

Extensive survey was carried out this year, probably for this project.

Wiki has some info on flow volumes - average 5 cubic metres per second, maximum 78 CM PS.

Interesting project.

45 years ago my wife was typing up Patent Aplications for water powered gear at AERE Harwell.

Including the 'nodding ducks' - whatever happened to them?

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The river severn has average of 107 cubic metres a second at Apperley and currents of up to 5kt in upper estuary (9 in the Shoots), comparable to Sarabandes local river with 66 cubic metres a second.

The Arun seems quite slight by that measure though no doubt all hydro electric is useful

 

[Wing Mark]

The river severn has average of 107 cubic metres a second at Apperley and currents of up to 5kt in upper estuary (9 in the Shoots), comparable to Sarabandes local river with 66 cubic metres a second.

The Arun seems quite slight by that measure though no doubt all hydro electric is useful

107 cubic metres per second is 107 tons /sec.
If it falls 1m that's 107x9.8 kJ or 1.05 MW
If you can extract all the energy.

Generally you cannot extract too much of the energy, because the water must keep moving.
The Uk's current grid consumption is about 32 GW, roughly 10x the output of the Niagara Falls power stations.

The true scale of our electricity use is huge. It's hard to see hydro in the UK making much impact.
And that's before we talk about switching vehicles and heating to electric.

 

[PilotWolf]

Any more details, rotrax, please ? I'm very interested in e.g. flow rates/sec if poss, and also the height delta.


Here's our local river in spate by the hydro-electric station.

66000 litres every second. That's 5.7 million tonnes of water every 24 hours. We can convert less than a twelfth of that to electricity,

Maybe odd for some one who has spent a large part of their life at sea but I still find water like this very frightening.

W.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

107 cubic metres per second is 107 tons /sec.
If it falls 1m that's 107x9.8 kJ or 1.05 MW
If you can extract all the energy.

Generally you cannot extract too much of the energy, because the water must keep moving.
The Uk's current grid consumption is about 32 GW, roughly 10x the output of the Niagara Falls power stations.

The true scale of our electricity use is huge. It's hard to see hydro in the UK making much impact.
And that's before we talk about switching vehicles and heating to electric.

Our addiction to fossil fuel may doom our civilisation when it runs out or becomes too destructive to use. However no reason to give up yet and maybe a lower energy usage is possible and within the reach of sustainable.

We have factories and offices lit all night just for 'security', lights on motorways and offices whose natural convection is so poor they need air conditioning. I am sure there are many more reductions even if all are not comfortable.

 

[Sandy]

Recieved a notice from the Littlehampton HA stating that tidal energy experiments are to be carried out in the lower Arun.

It sounds like generators mounted below floating pontoons.

As the Arun is the fastest flowing river in England it is a prime candidate for this.

Rather odd I understood that there were major tidal power generation test facilities in Orkney, why use another site?

 

[Wansworth]

Its English electricity

 

[Sandy]

Its English electricity

Lots of wind farms off the east coast to generate that. It's like another nation 'out there' and makes navigation very east, port at the end of this wind farm then starboard after the next.

 

[jamie N]

Its English electricity

Haha!!
Scotland generates 85% of UK Hydro power, 1.65 GW in total.
The clue was in the name with the power company being called the "Hydro Board", which brought "power from the glens".
The tidal stuff is in its infancy though.

 

[rotrax]

Rather odd I understood that there were major tidal power generation test facilities in Orkney, why use another site?

Eerrr - perhaps they are testing the location they want to install the generators?

A tidal river estuary on the South Coast is in no way the same as the topography in and around the Orkney's. Data collected there will be specific to that location.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Haha!!
Scotland generates 85% of UK Hydro power, 1.65 GW in total.
The clue was in the name with the power company being called the "Hydro Board", which brought "power from the glens".
The tidal stuff is in its infancy though.

Thats interesti ng info , thanks

Might mdntion that the Tidal Flow generation goes on each day , twice , and is not dependent upon the wind at all , High Pressure Areas etc etc , it can just go on and on producing each day n night ; Wind Generation cannot , can it ?

 

[jac]

Thats interesti ng info , thanks

Might mdntion that the Tidal Flow generation goes on each day , twice , and is not dependent upon the wind at all , High Pressure Areas etc etc , it can just go on and on producing each day n night ; Wind Generation cannot , can it ?

That's the thing that has always stumped me. With Wind - you can maybe forecast the output from each turbine with some accuracy a couple of days out, with Tidal, you can have the equivalent many many years out - probably beyond the lifespan of the actual turbine. Surely a useful factor for generators

 

[Laser310]

Environmentalists don't necessarily support hydro power.

In the USA the outdoor clothing company Patagonia has been lobbying for years for the removal of all hydro power stations from the rivers so that the rivers can run freely.

Perhaps they would feel differently about tidal power.

 

[Wing Mark]

Environmentalists don't necessarily support hydro power.

In the USA the outdoor clothing company Patagonia has been lobbying for years for the removal of all hydro power stations from the rivers so that the rivers can run freely.

Perhaps they would feel differently about tidal power.

Hydro often does come at significant environmental cost. The larger schemes often flood big areas and change the habitat of many species.
They also use a lot of concrete.

big tidal schemes like the never-ending proposals for the Severn also affect habitats and may have tidal consequences for communities along the coast.

Small schemes keep a lot engineers busy for not a lot of payback. A lot of it is just greenwashing and handout grabbing. Lots of your taxes used to fund research and experimental schemes which never stand a chance of achieving anything significant

 

[Frogmogman]

Does history relate whether the 1.2MW tidal turbine in Strangford Lough was considered a success ?

i have to say, I’ve always liked the idea of tide power; as jac points out, it’s predictability has to be a good thing.

The tidal barrage of the Rance has certainly been a qualified success. It produces 240 MW, with an average of 57MW, and has long ago paid for itself. It produces 0.12% of France’s electricity. The environmental issues it has created have including some silting, the disappearance of certain species, and the reappearance of others.

The Severn barrage that was mooted would have been on a totally different scale; big enough to provide 5% of the UK’s electricity.

 

[Gixer]

As the Arun is the fastest flowing river in England it is a prime candidate for this.

I'm being pedantic now (slow day at work) but I thought the Arun was the second fastest?

Although I wont argue as leaving Littlehampton on a spring ebb is like being shot from a gun...

 

[rotrax]

Oh no - not another " We are the most windy city " as between San Francisco and Wellington.

That took ages to settle, Wellington coming out tops.

I read it somewhere, keep my boat on the lower Arun and have no reason to disbelieve it.

By empirical methods, at Springs it is hard to keep a big bait on the bottom with a 8oz weight...............................

The info could be wrong, be interested to know which is the fastest.