ORCID Profile
0000-0001-5412-3952
Current Organisation
University of Aberdeen
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Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 26-08-2015
DOI: 10.1201/B18733
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-2021
Abstract: This review provides a critical, multi-faceted assessment of the practical contribution tidal stream energy can make to the UK and British Channel Islands future energy mix. Evidence is presented that broadly supports the latest national-scale practical resource estimate, of 34 TWh/year, equivalent to 11% of the UK’s current annual electricity demand. The size of the practical resource depends in part on the economic competitiveness of projects. In the UK, 124 MW of prospective tidal stream capacity is currently eligible to bid for subsidy support (MeyGen 1C, 80 MW PTEC, 30 MW and Morlais, 14 MW). It is estimated that the installation of this 124 MW would serve to drive down the levelized cost of energy (LCoE), through learning, from its current level of around 240 £ / MWh to below 150 £ / MWh , based on a mid-range technology learning rate of 17%. Doing so would make tidal stream cost competitive with technologies such as combined cycle gas turbines, biomass and anaerobic digestion. Installing this 124 MW by 2031 would put tidal stream on a trajectory to install the estimated 11.5 GW needed to generate 34 TWh/year by 2050. The cyclic, predictable nature of tidal stream power shows potential to provide additional, whole-system cost benefits. These include reductions in balancing expenditure that are not considered in conventional LCoE estimates. The practical resource is also dependent on environmental constraints. To date, no collisions between animals and turbines have been detected, and only small changes in habitat have been measured. The impacts of large arrays on stratification and predator–prey interaction are projected to be an order of magnitude less than those from climate change, highlighting opportunities for risk retirement. Ongoing field measurements will be important as arrays scale up, given the uncertainty in some environmental and ecological impact models. Based on the findings presented in this review, we recommend that an updated national-scale practical resource study is undertaken that implements high-fidelity, site-specific modelling, with improved model validation from the wide range of field measurements that are now available from the major sites. Quantifying the sensitivity of the practical resource to constraints will be important to establish opportunities for constraint retirement. Quantification of whole-system benefits is necessary to fully understand the value of tidal stream in the energy system.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 03-01-2018
DOI: 10.3390/JMSE6010002
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 29-03-2018
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 12-09-2022
Abstract: This paper sets out the role of offshore renewable energy (ORE) in UK targets for Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and provides a review of the research challenges that face the sector as it grows to meet these targets. The research challenges are set out in a Research Landscape that was established by the ORE Supergen Hub following extensive consultation with the ORE community. The challenges are ided into eight themes, each challenge is described, and current progress is summarised. The progress of the ORE sector in recent years has seen huge cost reductions, which have encouraged the great ambition for the sector seen in UK Government targets. However, in order to meet these critical targets and achieve Net Zero, further innovations and novel technologies will be needed and at pace, driven forward by new research and innovation. The strategy of the Supergen ORE Hub in framing the research and innovation activities within a community-developed research landscape and working together across disciplines and with close collaboration between academia and industry is a necessary component in achieving the ambition of sustainable energy generation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Beth E Scott.