Wave and tidal power

Total cost of all marine technologies consist of investment and operation cost. Although they are relatively new and actually the total cost is not established. However the cost relation between each technology is visible.

The highest investment cost has barrage technology (620 million Francs). The most expansive part is barrage. It depends from the dam length and height. Planned The Severn Barrage power plant will has 214 with total capacity about 8,6GW (40MW each turbine). The generation covers 4% of Brittany houses. The total cost of 10 mile long barrage with all required equipment is about 30 billion of US$. The Rance power plant annual generation equals 600 million kWh (7200 hours) and planned the Sever power plant 17 billion kWh. However the operational cost is relatively low, about €0,02 per kWh. It is related with inexpensive maintenance. One constructed power plant does not generate additional costs. Moreover the barrage technology has long operational life time, even to 200 years. [30], [40]

The TSG technology is still in experimental stage and the final cost of the TSG power plant is not established. An investment cost depends from location. For installation at shoreline it is about 5650 €/kW, for near-shore 6825 €/kW and for offshore (in relatively long distance from shore) 8000 €/kW. Estimate components of the TSG project costs consist of: [43]

The last one point does not encompass cases when the grid is not strong enough. If the electrical network is weak there are additional cost related with grid development. Operation and maintenance costs are also depends from the location however it is not the only one factor which has influence on that costs. For power plants located in shoreline it is about 145 €/(kW*year), for near-shore power plants 150 €/(kW*year) and 160 €/(kW*year) for devices deployed in long distance. Average lifetime of the TSG is about 25 years. [41], [43]

The economical side of the WEC technologies is not established yet. The price limitation of prototype projects is between €6450 and €13500 per kW. Initial capital investment costs of first production devices are between €2500 and €7000 per kW. At present average operation and maintenance costs are about 140 €/(kW*year) for power plants located in shoreline, 145 €/(kW*year) for devices deployed near shore and 155 €/(kW*year) in case of offshore in long distance from shore. Therefore the WEC technologies are not competitive however high energy price is forecast to decrease. Average performance of the WEC devices is between 3000h to 4000h (depends from technology). Average life time of the WEC power plants is about 25 years. [42], [43]

The UK is the country which would like to use the marine energy as a source of a clean energy to achieve resolution of the Kyoto agreement. The UK government plans to spend £ 130 million for capital investment to deploy 60MW pre-commercial arrays. The marine energy industry development is planed to realized in three stages: [30]

However the UK does not the only one country which support the tidal energy development. The following table shows the tidal energy concepts:

For more information about potential environmental impacts and mitigating measures, visit:www.wavedragon.net

As the RES technology, tidal and wave energy development are also supported by 6 instruments of support for renewable technologies in the EU countries. That instruments it is: feed-in tariff system, feed-in premium system, renewable or quota obligations, tax incentives or exemptions, fiscal incentives, investment grants. All of the EU countries obligate to establish minimum one of mentioned instrument. In each country is different level of support however it provides to the RES technology development. As the above figure shows, the UK has most of all marine projects what is related with large marine sources around the British Isles.

  • Copyrights 2011 © Blazej Olek