Wind and Water Mix | Green Energy News

June 1, 2003 – Vol.8 No.10

WIND AND WATER MIX.

The movement of air is a source of energy as is another fluid - water. So when being represented by a trade association why shouldn’t wind energy and ocean energy be wearing the same hat?

They soon will be.

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) will welcome Seapower Europe - a trade association for the U.K. ocean energy industry - under its wing over the coming months. The organization will retain the BWEA name but expand its mission beyond wind and offshore wind to include the promotion and advancement of wave and tidal stream energy.

One company sure to be a member of the combined organization (if it isn’t already) is The Engineering Business (EB) based in Scotland. The company specializes in the engineering and developing apparatus needed for the construction of offshore energy sources, including offshore wind and undersea power distribution, as well as developing its own breed of ocean power generating devices.

EB has recently received a GBP 2.1 million ($3.49 million) grant from the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to be used for the third phase of testing for the company’s Stingray tidal current generator. Stingray sits on the ocean bottom and generates power through the oscillating motion of its wing (flap, if you will) in ocean currents.

The new funding will be used to reinstall the Stingray prototype in Yell Sound off the Shetland Islands and for additional instrumentation and control systems. If all goes well with Stingray EB plans to engineer a 5 megawatt undersea power plant utilizing a series of the winged undersea generators.

And, aside from designing trenching devices for burying electrical cable in the ocean bottom (such as needed between offshore wind turbines and connections to shore) the company has developed a device known as Merlin to help speed the installation of offshore wind turbines. The A-frame based handling system operating off a single flat-bottom barge can install a fully assembled turbine in one lift.

There are more companies like EB operating in the British Isles eager to take advantage of the excellent offshore wind and ocean energy resources in the region. Their expertise could be exported to the rest of the world. The combined trade association will help them do just that. Visit them at http://www.bwea.com/ , EB at http://www.engb.com/ .