World's most powerful tidal turbine : Launched April 2021

The world's oceans hold almost unimaginable amounts of energy, but harnessing that energy in a way that can provide a predictable and reliable source of electrical power has proven to be very difficult. Now a jumbo jet sized floating platform supporting two large turbines has been launched off the coast of Scotland, providing new hope for a potentially influential industry.
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Research Links
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[@huwevans2653]

I live in Orkney and am so proud of Orbital and all those involved in this field.

[@martinsaunders2942]

Thanks…very interesting. Back in the 1970’s I was a commercial oil field diver, working for a company called Strongwork Diving, now part of the Sub Sea 7 group. I remember working on the Hewitt field off the Norfolk coast and also the West Sole field off Hull. In both locations the tidal flow during spring tides was very strong, on the Hewitt field the flow could exceed 7 knots, the West Sole was a bit less. We could only dive on the slack water window because of the tidal flows. The Southern North Sea would be an excellent location for tidal turbines…there is sufficient tidal flow and it is not too far from where the power is needed.

[@mobilisem3603]

We have amazing tidal flow all over the UK and you can set your watch by it. To me its a no brainer. Cheap totally reliable electricity for ever!

[@ThomasEWalker]

I have to believe our major problem with tidal is that all our progress is one step at a time and slow as we test each iteration, figure out permitting, maintenance, deployment, cabling, etc. Quite aside from engineering something new, manufacturing one of these to give it a whirl isn't exactly cheap, quick and easy... The potential is so huge, though, with so little environmental impact when done properly, that we simply have to get it done as quickly as possible!

[@paulaspinall919]

As a young child I accompanied my parents on a guided tour of the Rance estuary tidal barrage turbine halls in its opening week. The size of the engineering was mind boggling for a young child. I don’t know if guided tours are still available but the Rance River estuary is between St.Malo and Dinard in Brittany. Amazing.

[@ronniescott5179]

Very good video and pleased to see our engineers are busy making efficient and clean electrical generators. Keep up the good work.

[@markthomasson5077]

The beauty of this in GB, is that the time of slack water moves around the coast with the tide, so with multiple units, there is no time when there is zero production.

[@EleanorPeterson]

Hi, Mark! Yep. There's almost an embarrassment of riches, though - almost too much power and potential. As the marine environment is so hostile to any kind of techie installation, and the onslaught of the elements is relentless, I wonder if ANY scheme will be able to survive in the long run. Of course, maintenance schedules can be planned so as not to interrupt power production, but I have a horrible feeling that costs might escalate to the point where awkward questions are raised. Or maybe I'm just a natural-born pessimist. [Further disclosure: I'm only an amateur mechanic, not a professional engineer.]

[@showme360]

​@@EleanorPeterson They have been testing their designs of which 2 currently have survived a two year period over four years, with little maintenances in Orkney! So orbital02 is based on these designs with improvements, I am not saying they are indestructible but they have been well designed.

[@markthomasson5077]

We have learned from the offshore oil industry for many years, as well as shipping….I think they know what they are doing. I would and might invest in them

[@johnbinnie5697]

@@EleanorPeterson EMEC is a great place to test the robustness of the proposals. Many many, more have failed than proven successful. Orbital Marines design not only harvests the most productive level of flow but as it is free floating it has very little opposing stresses by comparison to sea bed based systems. Its been fun to watch the various designs of tidal and wave prototype's come through Orkney.

[@etienne8110]

That's not how tides works. GB isn't on multiple timezones and there will be dead hours. (the energy you can extract is the cube of the speed of the water (moving volume) So outside of peak tidal movements it produce very little. (just like how windmills are producing very little with slow winds)

[@petterbirgersson4489]

I was waiting for the pun "Is this the technology that will turn the tide for tidal power?".

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

Or will the tide turn it? Huh...

[@grindupBaker]

If they could install this globally it would be a sea change for them.

[@JustHaveaThink]

:-) Comedians. You're all comedians! LOL

[@vicariouswitness]

@@JustHaveaThink if your views start to lag , change the title to that and re-upload and bingo bango bongo ! Cheers

[@TheKSProduction]

@@JustHaveaThink I bet your pulling out your hair wishing you thought of that line.

[@jameshughes3014]

Things like this give me hope. I love when humans attempt to solve problems. it's so much easier to complain about how things are, or about what someone is doing. We need more things like this where brave people are willing to venture on something new.

[@garry8390]

This is a terrible idea we already have a solution it's called nuclear power

[@jameshughes3014]

@@garry8390 why do you think that is the only solution? And why do you think this is a terrible idea? It's interesting to me how you replied to a comment about how easy it is to criticize and how hard it is to create solutions by criticizing without any constructive points 😁

[@garry8390]

@@jameshughes3014 stupid crap like this gets funding so government can point and say they are doing something but all they are doing is wasting taxpayer money. The actual solutions are not politically popular so no politician will support it. I am critical of pointless distractions. Nuclear could be the lowest cost and safest form of power if politicians didn't get in the way and it could be factory built at scale in years instead of decades.

[@jameshughes3014]

@@garry8390 again, why do you think this is 'stupid crap' ? You still haven't said

[@garry8390]

@@jameshughes3014 people have been designing wave power machines for decades. They will never work because the maintenance costs are prohibitive. This machine is no different. Why try and reinvent the wheel when nuclear is a vastly superior technology.

[@WigWorland]

I've got a few quid invested in Orbital Marine. Lovely to hear about it's success!

[@Blaxjax21]

where do I sign up?

[@colsylvester639]

Is this them? orbitalmarine.com/

[@Blaxjax21]

@@colsylvester639 yes thank you. Duh add marine to name.

[@tykeno1192]

@@Blaxjax21 There was a crowdfunding round at the end of 2020 on Crowdcube which I participated in. Don't know if the plans for Isle of Wight will lead to another round or not, but may be worth watching out for.

[@grindupBaker]

Are we privileged to be hearing from the next Elon Musk ? Beam me up Scotty.

[@Devo491]

Tidal movements are just that. So the max and min of current progresses along a coast and up and down estuaries in a very predictable manner. With strategic placement, these things could supply base load.

[@bokehbeauty]

„Base load“ - one would need 600-800 of those to replace a today‘s nuclear power plant. So the coast of GB for one nuclear power plant, hmm 🤔.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

@@bokehbeauty More about replacing today's carbon emitters.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

Correct. Slack water at one point around the British Isles is peak flow elsewhere.

[@alaneasthope2357]

I've been watching tidal generation since Robert Llewellyn went to Orkney for Fully Charged. It makes so much sense as a renewable source of energy as it's regular and predictable. I presume you could have a string of these to multiply the kW's generated in a single current. Nice adaptation to have the turbines lift up to the surface for maintenance. They should anchor some under the Severn bridge in the Bristol Channel (2nd fastest tidal range in the world).

[@guygillmore2970]

er, surely you mean second *largest* tidal range in the world? These devices are after speed not range ..... and I think it is third after St Malo, France and Bay of Fundy in Canada..... I should probably get out more.....

[@andymurray8007]

@@guygillmore2970 Actually, Bay of Fundy has the 2nd largest tide range. Because it's a remote place in the arctic, very few people know about Ungava Bay... www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/74311-highest-tide-ever Wikipedia lists the Severn Estuary as 3rd... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_range As for fastest tidal rapid, that's probably between Nakwakto Rapids (BC), and Saltstraumen (Norway).

[@etienne8110]

The only problem is how little it produce for how much steel it requires. This is just a waste of ressources.

[@lawrence18uk]

Sea Mark Lawes' comment about need for life cycle analysis...

[@buggsy5]

@@andymurray8007 I think the tidal range is relatively immaterial. What matters are the tidal velocity, the flow rate profile and how long the flow lasts.

[@kevinmcnulty2668]

On a visit to Ramsey Island (seal watching) whilst we were travelling back, the sea on one side was about 6 feet higher because of the funnel effect squeezing the tidal flow, seams like a good location for one of these devices.

[@Kevin_Street]

The thing is there are (rightfully) very strict environmental regulations in places like that intended to protect the local wildlife. When they installed their previous turbine Orbital had to do a years long scientific study proving that it didn't disrupt the feeding patterns of the local seals.

[@paulg3336]

And from then on you can go and watch diced seal , whale and fish floating on the surface

[@showme360]

@@Kevin_Street The water turns the blades not the other way round, fish will just pass through unharmed.

[@Tengooda]

@@showme360 Well, the wind turns the blades of wind turbines, and they are not without their problems with respect to collisions with birds and bats. There would seem to be the potential for similar problems for fish and marine mammals with this technology.

[@Kevin_Street]

I know, but they still had to do a study to show there was no impact.

[@johnburns4017]

These are brilliant. If one needs a major overall, just tow it to the shore. They look highly cost effective. The Seven and Mersey estuaries are prime locations for these tidal turbines. For decades they have talked about constructing barrages on these two estuaries, but costs have been the biggest hurdle. Although a Seven barrage can act as a basin to pour in water from upstream when there is heavy rain to prevent flooding on the high ground. In short, when at low tide close the barrier gates, as the Thames barrier does, then the massive empty basin takes the excess water flowing in from upstream. The UKs last few coal powered stations are being decommissioned in a year or so, so great progress overall in clean energy. Now for mass EV uptake.

[@douglasrogers3918]

I have always been an advocate for a tidal barrage in the Seven estuary - the advantages of preventing upstream flooding coupled with about a 2GW capability with some ability to modify the time the power is generated is enormous. There have been two criticisms of this scheme - cost and environmental. I believe that the cost was acceptable if the barrage also provided a road and/or rail crossing into Wales. The second is that the vast mud flats would be lost that birds are seen to feed on. However the high tidal stream makes the estuary difficult for marine life to live in making it almost sterile, and the mud flats are not hugely productive. I believe the real opposition is emotiaonal, as the high tidal range at Bristol would be lost and the Seven bore would also never happen again. There are other ideas to exploit the tidal energy in the Severn estuary like tidal ponds and using tidal stream capture, the first is much more expensive for the installed capacity with none of the other advantages, and the second is difficult to achieve because the tidal range means the generator has to be positioned to always be submerged in some way.

[@waynegabler6570]

. . . or surface ships that carry all the heavy spare parts. Two retired oil tankers would make a decent catamaran platform once 'on station' the anchored systems could be installed. Like in the whole of the Grand Banks as well as all the way down to Florida. The currents on the West Coast are almost as good, damn shame the Gulf Steam is too weak to spin anything by the time it reaches Scotland. (after we burn up all the coal making these 'fields') Might as well make a model that sits on top of a building, big or small depending on which way the wind blows.

[@douglasrogers3918]

@@waynegabler6570 There is plenty of tidal energy in the straits between the North coast of Scotland and the Orkney isles. Ian Bryden, who sadly passed away in 2016, stated that there was a 2GW capability from this resource alone. I talked with a dive master who went to survey a german U boat in this area at a depth of about 40 metres. The divers had half an hour at slack tide then decompressed by hanging below a buoy that was allowed to float free, allowing the support boat to follow the buoy and recovere them having been spet away by the tide. These areas are hard to work in - this still applies to this machine as the anchor points need to be firmly attached and the cable has to be protected against the abrasion of the reversing tidal flow. The ability to take the device on and off stations owes a dept to the work done on the Pelamis wave power machine, using 6.6kV wet mate connectors.

[@waynegabler6570]

@@douglasrogers3918 The stream that would be (most) helpful to Northern Europe is the cold water (deep down) going south before it makes a right turn at the Canary Islands.

[@seasong7655]

There are still tons of different concepts for harvesting tidal energy. They measure how effective the devices are in kg/watt aka how heavy the device is per power generated. Apparently they have to make their device resonate with the wave frequency to get the maximum power out of it, but the device also has be able to shut down during storms and also be resistant to the sea water. So it's a difficult engineering challenge.

[@janami-dharmam]

You have a very valid point; much of this resonance does take place close to the turbine surface and I do not see any innovation in the turbine geometry. the idea is to have a dynamic resonance that can match with a range of flow patterns.

[@enterprisestobart]

as long as fatigue is accounted for (probalbly what the resonation is to do with) having a low cost, easy to mass produce system is of greater importance in order to meet the demands of the electricity grid.

[@nacoran]

I don't know if it was here or another channel, but I've seen wave power plants that use the waves to create airflow and actually harvest the wind instead of the water power. It makes them safer for sea life.

[@enterprisestobart]

@@nacoran the problems with that are the extra complexity of the combined air/water system, the resultant power losses and the use of more materials to cope with the extra complexity

[@enterprisestobart]

@@nacoran that's why I prefer salters ducks as the wave energy directly drives the mechanism

[@otpyrcralphpierre1742]

I've worked on offshore oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. I was always amazed at how much current was pushing against the legs of the platform. I have envisioned under-water turbines installed on these platforms for years. Why is no one investigating this?

[@silvergreylion]

Isn't it obvious? - the oil the platforms produce is basically "liquid energy". If they started to use such turbines, it would be like admitting that it's a viable alternative.

[@grogery1570]

@@silvergreylion I had the same thought, the idea of powering oil rigs with renewable energy must seem perverse to oil execs! Perhaps the second life of these structures could be connected to a hinged turbine.

[@eric3969]

There are a few designs that can be attached to platforms. They usually have arms that articulate with wave action. Also, oscillating water column type can work.

[@marklawes1859]

What I would like to see is a full lifecycle analysis. Totals costs to produce in terms of money, energy, CO2 generation, deployment, maintenance, ecological impact, recovery and disposal compared with total energy production during the working life of the unit. The problem then would be getting the same data for other forms of energy production so you could do a fair comparison.

[@etienne8110]

They'll never do it, it doesn't play in their favour. Better to sale a dream of "cleanliness" to the gullibles than work seriously on the question.

[@MerPopcorn]

Looks fragile - and like it would be a huge maintenance nightmare. And it looks like it will not scale well (You can't put hundreds, much less thousands of those things in the same area). And it stops twice a day.

[@vincentsels]

Was also thinking this. You need about 300-600 of these to match the power output of a nuclear power plant. Would be really surprised if the total lifecycle cost (energy, materials, maintenance) could compete.

[@mleg7104]

@@MerPopcorn Yeah there's plenty enough space for loads of these units - the sea is a very big place after all. Plus the whole unit is very towable so what can't be maintained in-situ can be sorted in-port pretty easily

[@mleg7104]

@@vincentsels Give them a chance - they're barely past the prototype stage. Once they get up to speed on the production they'll be churning them out faster and more efficiently, just like wind turbines have evolved. And BTW, the production costs of nuclear are astronomical

[@rockman531]

Hello Mr. "Think", Great program - as usual. You might want to pass along to these tidal turbine people that they should contact the navy to find out if retired submarines are available. This turbine project would certainly be a better use for them than a scrap yard. Many thanks for your great work! Jim in Phoenix, AZ.

[@rodanderson8490]

ALL US subs are nuclear powered, which would not be appropriate. If SpaceX can mass produce Starships at a relatively low cost per unit then there should not be a problem mass producing these energy producing units. Some of the same techniques can probably be used.

[@rockman531]

@@rodanderson8490 This wasn't done in the US.

[@snowstrobe]

The work these guys have been doing has been impressive, good on Scotland. The Catalans should look into this, they have very fast currents just off their coast.

[@e-redj]

In the last decades they have been loosing part of their entrepreneurial mindset.

[@dr.jamesolack8504]

@Drawn When you say ‘good ON Scotland’ are you saying ‘good FOR Scotland’?

[@helmutzollner5496]

Great documentation. Thank you.

[@joelmcallister9248]

Thank you for the post.

[@TheLRider]

Tidal turbines being installed here too at the end of the Llŷn Peninsula in Bardsey Sound where again tidal flows are strong enough. The company is also Scottish called Nova Inovation.. Have been working closely with the local community and Bangor University..

[@JeremyPickett]

This is amazing. I adore the calm delivery, and fact based content. Let me know if Orbital needs some infosec :)

[@Jeff-gq2tq]

Another brilliant video. Well done, Dave!

[@izysly1462]

Thank you so much for uploading this story of which I never would have had heard about before.

[@mattcbinns]

I’m very happy to have put a little money into this project.

[@Jay...777]

Good for you.

[@CosmicHarmony58]

@@Jay...777 You know... You did too with those taxes we all pay.

[@Jay...777]

We all need a game changer. Looks cool too. And it's Scottish. Supercool.

[@penguinuprighter6231]

"If it's not Scottish it's crap"

[@grindupBaker]

@@penguinuprighter6231 "If it's no Scottish it's crap". Sheesh man at least learn how to speak Scottie.

[@penguinuprighter6231]

@@grindupBaker True..serious misquote.

[@johnkay4701]

That statement Peter is not entirely true. Please see some detail below:- "And that is no small task at a practical level we have had estimated that there has been the equivalent of 80 full time staff working within the domestic supply chain on the build of the O 2 on sites and factories the length and breadth of the UK." "Shortly before Christmas we received both power generating nacelles from the SKF facility in Germany each of these nacelles weighs approximately 80 tonnes and required specialist haulage trailers and convoys via Rotterdam Following some checks these assemblies will be getting bolted to the end of the legs in the next few weeks and allow for us to finish outfitting In the same space of time we will receive our composite blades coming from Southampton." So final assembly, certainly completed in Dundee, but many significant parts came from elsewhere in the UK & Germany. Also the engineers are multi-national, as is the finance. I am English & invested £5000 of my own dosh into this project. Scottish? No where near 100% manufacturing or financing. I only agree with your "Supercool" statement. Regards from JohnnyK in Colchester, (no where near Scotland).

[@penguinuprighter6231]

Always a haggis burster in the crowd.

[@Yanquetino]

A really encouraging episode, Dave! 👍 I commented in Patreon.

[@XRP747E]

Excellent information. Thank you!

[@kevinjpluck]

If this doesn't get called "lunar power" then what would be the point?

[@Tore_Lund]

There is no power coming form the Moon. By hindering the movement of the tides by installing a turbine, you increase the friction of the watter moving over the globe. Or put more correctly; the tidal buldges are stationary, it is Earth rotating inside them, so you are slowing Earths rotation, so this is flywheel energy storage, created by gravity when the solar system formed.

[@realvanman1]

Indeed, applying a dynamic brake to the Earth will lengthen the day, cause the moon to move further away from the Earth and lengthen it’s orbital period, and cause the Earth to move away from the Sun, and increase it’s orbital period. It would be fun to calculate how much effect 100 GW of installed tidal capacity would actually have! Infinitesimal, but not zero. ;)

[@drdoolittle5724]

It is actually solar power, just in another form!

[@Tore_Lund]

@@drdoolittle5724 Some of it is solar power, as wind affect the height of tides. However, as the contribution from the wind depends on wind drirection, it will half of the time work against the direction of the tide, so the net contribution is zero. I.e. in principle you are right, but in reality there is no wind component in the power generation.

[@ricksauermilch5225]

@@Tore_Lund saying that the earth is rotating and the moon is still is just a matter of perspective points, literally everything in space is moving at all times so there's not really a difference between the earth spinning and the moon circling the earth except for semantically

[@WestOfEarth]

This seems like it would be an ideal generator for the Bay of Fundy in Canada.

[@paulslevinsky580]

I concur. After seeing it go thru its tidal-cycle its hard to imagine that the Bay of Fundy hasn't been tapped for its energy yet.

[@derrickstableford8152]

Yep, it would be a good spot. Run of river schemes would also be good for more hydro in Canada.

[@esweet100]

The Annapolis Royal Generating Station operated in the Bay of Fundy for 34 years until 2019, generating enough power for 4500 houses. Shut down in 2019 because its turbines killed too many fish. A new 6 turbine system was apparently commissioned in February of this year by SME (Sustainable Marine Energy).

[@WestOfEarth]

@@esweet100 I'm curious how the new system improves on environmental impact. Presumably they system will kill less fish, but how?

[@crhu319]

Yes but there's only about four places on Earth like that.

[@josephinalace6985]

Love it, therefore, have subscribed to the channel! Thanks for sharing

[@finecutpost]

Another excellent video. Thanks

[@matthiasmoneke6004]

Hey Dave! Thank you so, so much for this video. This is great! I've been waiting for news about this underestimated regenerative power source for several years now. I was hoping some new generation of maritime turbines were in development. Seeing these systems becoming reality gives me relief. 8)

[@sailorgeer]

The animation at 3:37 cleverly defies physics when the current starts flowing “uphill”. In reality of course the current will always flow from the high side to the low side.

[@grindupBaker]

I noticed that too. Haven't you heard of "poetic license" you Philistine.

[@emceeboogieboots1608]

But this is what a tide does. It will pull water up onto a beach for instance, then drag it back out again. It is still gravity driven but the "High side" is determined by the position of the sun and moon, not local topography

[@sailorgeer]

@@emceeboogieboots1608 Yes, I have a masters degree in coastal engineering, so I’m familiar with how tides work. But a turbine is driven by differential pressure between the upstream and downstream side. The differential pressure for a tidal turbine comes from the head (elevation) differential that pushes water from where it is higher to where it is lower. It’s the same reason rivers flow downstream.

[@kenleach2516]

Great report and tidal improvement

[@geodeaholicm4889]

you consistantly put out Excellent content... enjoyed it !

[@PCRoss2469]

This stuff looks good. I hope Australia gets on board.

[@grahamoldfield3474]

long way from proven technology and no long term operating cost or life cycle . Marine environment is extremely hard on man made machines . on shore wind power along the areas of high winds is probably better when combined with Snowy 2 storage and Ultra High DC Cable for minimum power loss over distance .

[@GlobeHackers]

As always, thank you for including links to things you reference in the show notes. We have created lots of lovely technology and engineering marvels. What we can't invent is a new culture. Enjoy your gadgets while you can.

[@philblum1496]

I really love your topics and presentation!

[@donfields1234]

Keep up the great work bud its very appreciated

[@oceanbreze1977]

we can consider it an increase to energy security , a high value worth it, and it reduces the burden on other low tech stations.

[@TheNerd484]

Technology like this could also harvest energy from larger rivers without the need for a dam of any kind. could be used even in flat regions, not just areas conducive to dam building.

[@Duncangafney1]

Indeed, although my simply downsizing it, you can easily use it in smaller rivers to and also, you can basically put as many as you like, because gravity is always refreshing the energy in the water.

[@mikeavison5383]

I think rivers would be more problematic because of their greater variability. When they flood all manner of debris crashes down them and forces become terrifying.

[@eric3969]

I've worked with a company installing this type of device in Alaska. Yes, the constant flow is much better than tidal. Can be a bit turbulent and harder to locate turbines.

[@johnhooks9401]

I live near the Mississippi River. There's got to be a way to harness all that power in a way that doesn't damage too many fish...and the equipment itself...Also, note the amazing number of rather large rivers in the United States. We are blessed with a network of navigable waterways that could provide a network of constant energy close to where it's needed...Thoughts?

[@alanjones1956]

Nearly 200,000 views! Dave you are going mainstream! Well done.

[@heckyes]

I'm really enjoying this channel lately. The content is A+.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thank you :-)

[@chuckkottke]

It makes good sense to me too, and it is low impact for significant electricity generation. 🌞

[@nacoran]

I guess there is some testing going on in the East River in NYC. I know a good stretch of the Hudson is tidal.

[@code4chaosmobile]

Amazing as always. Thank you for all of your hard work here at the channel, your videos always leaves my mood better than then when I started

[@bali208]

Thank you soo much for this video. Love you. I had asked this for in nearly 10 comments

[@gravitaslost]

Reliable renewables, this is what we need.

[@2x6x250ml]

The only reliable renewables are geothermal, in geologically busy parts of the planet, and hydro ( barring droughts.) The rest - sun, wind, tide - are part time boosters for a grid that mainly relies on something else, usually fossils. ( I don't count 'biofuels' since they're mostly worse emitters than coal, per joule generated.)

[@scottwhitley3392]

@@2x6x250ml Not really, Scotland ket 97% of its demand with wind in 2020, Hydro, Tidal, Solar and nuclear ended up creating a surplus of 56% which was exported.

[@2x6x250ml]

@@scottwhitley3392 Really ? The whole of Great Britain has 25 Gigawatts of wind installed, but at the moment it's producing less than 4GW, and at the start of the day it was only one. Meanwhile the two nuclear plants in Scotland, which produced 40% of the power in the country a few years ago, run pretty much all the time: at the moment 19% of GB power is from nuclear, and another 6% is being imported from France, and that's mostly nuclear. Do you think Scotland shuts down whenever the wind stops blowing, while Torness, Hunterston B, Inverkip, and Peterhead carry on exporting power to England ? 'Last year, Torness generated enough low-carbon electricity to power 2.6 million homes; more than the number of households in Scotland.' www.electricitymap.org/zone/GB?wind=false&solar=false

[@scottwhitley3392]

@@2x6x250ml Yes really. I’m not talking about the whole of Great Britain. In 2020 it was a fact that 97% of Scotland’s electricity generation was met by renewables. Torness exports much of its power to the north east of England and Hunterston B isn’t running anywhere near full capacity. Considering there is 9.8GW of installed wind in Scotland (40% of the U.K. total with 8% of the population) is not unreasonable to expect a that with more projects on the pipeline such as the new Coire Glas pumped storage facially, and several offshore wind and tidal projects that a country can sustain itself of renewables.

[@2x6x250ml]

@@scottwhitley3392 Coire Glas will have a maximum capacity of 30 gigawatt hours, about enough to run a city of a million for a day or so. New Zealand has about the same population as Scotland, but has five times as much hydro, and has about a gigawatt of steady, reliable power from geothermal. Despite that, we are still burning a lot of coal and gas, and are investigating a 5,000 GWh pumped storage scheme, which could tide us over dry years and wind lulls. Having lots of wind turbines is no guarantee that any of them will be spinning - calm weather during winter highs can easily last a week.

[@Mahmashany]

Hy dave, your video is very interesting, i work on simmiliar research project in one of university in indonesia, we try to develop hydrokinetic turbine that can be used in both river or tidal current. my research interest is on vertical axis turbine, we already start the research from 2010 and already installed the real scale prototype predicted energy of 3 - 9 kW. Sometimes it feel so frustrating when one of the hypothesis can't satisfy our epectations, but one of the optimistic video like this can boost our spirit. Thank you.

[@entyropy3262]

Amazing topic, thx for sharing.

[@rameshbhole]

Very good support for clean energy!

[@MrGonzonator]

Could you mount a pair on a wind turbine base, so you can share the link up infrastructure?

[@dougaltolan3017]

Couldn't be a retrofit, the wind turbine bases could not stand the strain. But as a new installation it should be workable.

[@MrGonzonator]

@@dougaltolan3017 thinking again, you wouldn't save much because the best spots for currents are likely to deep for wind, and the best spots for wind are too shallow for tidal.

[@Mekkiceh]

The places where tide current can be harvested are quite limited and usually do not overlap with places where wind turbines can be implemented.

[@MrGonzonator]

@@Mekkiceh yes, I answered my own question just above.

[@matthewbenton1630]

You were right to focus on Orbital - I remember reading about that record breaking prototype and was wondering when a more finished design would be in the water. At fullychargedshow in 2019 there was a interesting talk from a tidal engineer. I asked him about tidal potential in the uk, and I was a bit disappointed to hear tidal could only provide about 15% of UK power needs. But definitely worth pursuing as it's so predictable, and tidal will find its niche as one of many renewable solutions.

[@imakevideos5377]

15% is no small amount, couple that with wind and solar (without batteries) and your getting greater than 60%, add batteries/storage and you are almost 100%

[@buggsy5]

100% could be provided, but it would not be cost competitive. You need the proper tidal flow rates and those do not appear everywhere. From what I have read, the English Channel has some fairly high currents. Is this where they are testing the tidal turbines?

[@matthewbenton1630]

@@buggsy5 The guy I was talking to was based in Orkney.

[@avejst]

Great video as always, Thanks for sharing :-)

[@georgenigg748]

Simplicity is the key but yes tidal movement has huge power!

[@errolfoster1101]

the main new issue with wind is the limited life of a wind generator and the disposal of non reusable remains of a wind generator and the disposal of it

[@waynegabler6570]

I'm pretty sure some scrapyards could take them apart if they are shut down before they come down in a ball of smoke and flames. If I had one on a remote gravel crushing plant I could spin the genset using the spare loader or D8 Cat or just a small engine from a car. I have to admit the vertical spin models look interesting, and easy to service. The current ones could fly some streamer from the wingtips so the birds can see them. They don't really use any of the hp produced.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

First question: What is the LCOE from these things? Second question: Have they solved the corrosion problem? If they don't have acceptable answers to both, then the device will not be successful. If they've been adequately tested, then the second question is incorporated into the first, so that's all we should really need.

[@etienne8110]

But then they would have nothing to sell. Pointing their flaws isn't their job. ^^

[@DFPercush]

Not sure what the expected lifetime of these things is, but just some quick napkin math... if an investment of 100 billion can supply 80 million homes, then each household would need to pay $5437 in energy bills to break even, not including maintenance costs. So if a house pays on average $150/month, it would take 3 years to recover the initial investment. However, it seems they're using a figure of 1 household = 1 kW, which seems a bit low to me, at least anywhere that uses any form of heat pump/air conditioning. Average in the US is 11,000 kWh per year, with the max being 16,000 kWh in the hot south. That's between 1.25 and 2 kW continuous. That would bump the time up by 25-100% so about 4-6 years to recover the investment. Also, 100 GW of estimated harvestable energy / 2 MW per unit = 50,000 units. $435 billion cost estimate / 50,000 units = $8.7 million per unit. $8.7Mn / 2 MW per unit = $4.35 per watt, or $4,350 / kW, so distribute that over how many $ / hr the electric company charges. At $0.10 / kW hr, comes out to 5 years.

[@CrusaderSports250]

@@DFPercush out of interest how does this compare to wind after you factor in hot standby, (used to maintain supply should wind speed vary, power of the wind equals the square of its speed),

[@DFPercush]

@@CrusaderSports250 Not familiar with that term, but tides are much more predictable than wind.

[@richardmiller8028]

I think this bit of kit is superb a game changer as they say. Having worked in the offshore industry in many guises including ROV inspection installation, I hope they’ve thought about installing a mid water buoy for the power export cable to lie over the same as they have on FPSO vessels, otherwise the cable won’t last five minutes in those sea’s.

[@christopherdiaz5076]

great episode!

[@notsaying743]

Very interesting documentary, well presented by an understandably enthusiastic presenter! Very good, enjoyed a lot! Thanks!

[@korneld]

Enthusiastic by English standards, but yeah, good work as usual.

[@jhendricks203]

Why does the gulfstream, off the florida coast ignored ? unlike the tide , it runs S to N 24 hours a day.

[@thobbeee]

www.sustainableislandsplatform.org/innovation/deep-green-technology/ Minesto will be number one company for tidal energy in a few years

[@jamespurcer3730]

it has been predicted that as the Northern, polar ice melts and eventually disappears, the addition of fresh water to the Atlantic ocean will cause the gulf stream to entirely stop.

[@AdrieKooijman]

I guess because Florida is not in the UK? More practical: how far from the coast, how deep is the water? In the reported 100 GW gulfstream may be included? All shown location are in (relative) shallow waters.

[@MiddleIrvington]

A serious problem with harnessing the Gulf Stream is that sapping its energy will lead to temperature extremes in Europe. This is because, as the Gulf Stream slows, due to (turbines and) desalination because of polar ice melt/global warming, there will be little to moderate the extremely cold winters coastal Europe would face!

[@Nilguiri]

Presumably because the oil industry lobbyists bribe US politicians with countless millions of dollars in order to prevent non-fossil-fuel energy production.

[@garudastan]

another great video.thank you

[@willm5814]

Great information- thanks!!

[@TheOriginalDeckBoy]

Dave this is a great 'Turbine based' system.. robust and there's a good bit of 'marine life damage' mitigation going on in this design... This is a fantastic system.. I hope the biofouling doesn't hinder it.. I'm also curious whether, should a 'fishing net' or similar catch onto one blade, whether it would be damaged significantly..

[@withwingsaseagleeyes]

Like birds being killed by wind turbines.

[@dwaneanderson8039]

@@withwingsaseagleeyes Tidal turbines turn much slower than wind turbines, so marine creatures can swim around them easily without danger.

[@dwaneanderson8039]

One of the benefits of this design is that you can raise the blades out of the water to easily clean biofouling or any other fouling off the blades.

[@michaeloreilly657]

@@dwaneanderson8039 And fish swim slower than birds fly!

[@andymurray8007]

@@dwaneanderson8039 Whales get hit by ships. I sure wouldn't want to swim through one!

[@itekani]

Interesting. You could also have mentioned Minesto's Deep Green turbines that are operating outside of Wales. Those are 0.5 megawatt, but they are going to make them up to 3 MW. They weigh between 10 and 30 tonnes, compared with 680 tonnes for O2!? I would guess O2 gets quite expensive to build with that huge amount of material.

[@user-ox6vu2pn4u]

Thank you for a very comprehensive and informative video....well done!!

[@srnpandub]

Great work thanks for excellent data ...

[@abhayprasad9580]

The only disadvantages is that rotating blade which can harm marine life and what is the efficiency of this technology if we can make it's design little bit more better then it's good

[@TheOriginalDeckBoy]

Hey Abhay, what do you think of this.. we're working on marine life excluders etc for it and it's undergoing fluid dynamic testing shortly... kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2GUl6tqrrCrpNU Love to get ur feedback on our website www.tidalmaster.com

[@noname106]

Maybe some sort of filter or cage around the blades?

[@bernardthedisappointedowl6938]

Because of the higher density of water, the rotational speed of the turbine can be made relatively quite low -which would hopefully be considerably less harmful, ^oo^

[@petartsankov8655]

Since water is incompressible and unless the blades have 0 friction with the water(which would be counter-productive to extracting energy) i would guess that the movement of the blades would create a sort of water cushion around them that would move sealife out of the way of the turbine Like what happens if you try to catch a feather falling trough the air. The air currents from your hand's motion move the feather to avoid you. Thus smaller fish would most probably not be harmed. And larger fish might avoid it as machinery like this generates vibrations in the water, and sealife tends to avoid vibrations (or use the vibrations to locate the object and its size and move to avoid it. Afterall at sea it doesn't matter if a seal is chasing you or a turbine. The motions of both can be felt trough the water and sea creatures steer clear) But we'll have to see.

[@nicholashomler1494]

He has another video about the marine life impacts, look that one up. It showed limited marine life impact with the exception of whales, sharks, and dolphins but they have used sonic blasts that have shown great effectiveness.

[@justlisten82]

Could we combine off shore wind turbines to also combine this technology to have wind and tidal power simultaneously? Seems like it should be possible.

[@enterprisestobart]

depends on the tidal direction and the strength/design of the offshore turbine posts

[@enterprisestobart]

I believe it would be more economically sound to combine kite based wind with salters duck based wave energy in my opinion due to the lower enviromental damage of the two compared to their counterparts due to having to build in foundations for the turbines. This is also because all of the electric and gearbox technology is at sea level and can be easily maintained by boat and that the entire structure can be detached from its tempory moring and towed back to port if a major malfunction occured that could not be repaired remotely

[@michaeloreilly657]

Many land based wind energy sites are adding solar, utilising existing grid connections. Same would apply for your idea.

[@__WJK__]

@@enterprisestobart - I watched an entire documentary about kite-based electricity generation and while the prototype was extremely impressive from an engineering perspective... it's insanely impractical from a commercial perspective... in fact, it's orders of magnitude impractical, to be a bit frank. There are so many (other) promising technologies, I was surprised the group that developed, designed, built and flew the kite, didn't see the massive shortcomings before wasting so much time, energy and money on the project :'(

[@wearevanimals90]

That has been done a few times in China. But these designs of tidal turbine require high flow speeds and placing wind farms in tidal channels will likely increase costs! And might not have the best wind speeds.

[@michaelwhitehead4458]

You are great! Thanks for such an amazing page

[@anothergoogleuser]

Thanks for sharing.

[@markfryer9880]

The Straits of Gibraltar would be another great location.

[@Withnail1969]

No it wouldn't. Lots of ships go that way.

[@leerman22]

If they can be placed deep enough it would be good. A lot more practical than turning the Mediterranean into a briny hydro plant like old 20th century plans.

[@davidmoore2699]

I would like to see this in the Puget Sound

[@dalenbickenbach9533]

You take the lead and submit the question to our representatives. The Tacoma Narrows is a good spot.

[@solarfluxman8810]

Deception Pass is a narrow waterway in the Puget Sound that connects the vast expanses of the Strait of Juan De Fuca with Skagit Bay. The narrow opening has huge tidal swings that creates lots of current beneath the Deception Pass Bridge. Is it possible to make the turbines fish friendly? Thousands of salmon travel through the Pass every summer.

[@buggsy5]

@@solarfluxman8810 More likely millions of salmon. The design should be fairly fish friendly already. The blade assembly rotates slowly compared to wind turbines and fish are very good at dodging something that appears to be threatening them. Unlike a bird, they can make a 180 degree turn in roughly a body length.

[@eric3969]

There have been several projects in Puget Sound. The research has mainly been done by UW APL.

[@MrFoxRobert]

Thank you!

[@milohobo9186]

This video makes me a little more optimistic than most of your videos have made me. Thank you, I needed a pick-me-up

[@margaretneanover3385]

There are several types and they produce mass energy.

[@goonyhill1857]

I have been an advocate for tidal power for years. One of the simplest ideas I thought of was to anchor ex large vessels in some of the high tidal movement harbours. Punch a hole in them and put a turbine in the hole. The water entering and leaving the vessels with each change of tide will generate massive amounts of power for minimal investment.

[@jonts04]

I like that. We talked of all the old docks & moorings where a vessel could go up & down twice a day every day, not too hard to turn into rotary motion powering much of the local area.

[@Tore_Lund]

@@jonts04 Both of you: Would it be that much energy? You have the ship's displacement in tonnes lifted or lowered x meters by the tide, so a medium size (big) ship of 20,000 tonnes, moving up and down 3M (or letting in and out its displacement in water through a turbine, is 163kWh, 4 times a day or 652kWh /day. Presume 50% efficiency through pulleys or what not, and you have 350kWh to the grid or enough to supply 170 homes. Would that warrant a 100m ship taking up space in a harbour?

[@fredricknietzsche7316]

There is much much more volume moving in and out. Up and down is a rounding error when compared (for a given bladecsweep surface area). What this company did (in simple terms) was to take your idea of anchored ships then add the turbines to that.

[@Tore_Lund]

@@fredricknietzsche7316 Yes of course, if the bobbing is included it is much more, but that is wave power!

[@ssssssssssss885]

Ah, the double-decker-bus unit of measure! Love it. Nice video, awesome project.

[@DonBradstreet]

Thank you.

[@John...44...]

A global potential of powering 80million houses seem rather underwhelming ...

[@spitfireinvasion]

i agree, thats not a lot considering how much water and coastline there is on earth

[@lexiecrewther7038]

It's also used in tides (downtime between flows) when it should be used in permanent currents (like ocean conveyor currents)

[@MrBizteck]

Just googled theres 29 million homes in the UK. So ya on a world wide bases. You think they would be more.

[@jaredgarbo3679]

Thats around 5% of the world popuation.

[@John...44...]

@@jaredgarbo3679 slightly over 1% of the population, and that's just powering homes not industry.

[@charliedevine6869]

The only thing better than tidal energy is ocean current energy.

[@JacovanRensburg]

Agree with you on that one

[@Tore_Lund]

Another one, I only heard about recently, is Osmosis power: By mixing seawater with freshwater through a membrane, the different salinity also drives an electrical current around the membrane. If this is pratical, it will be elegant with solid state power like this around mouths of rivers.

[@AlexBurstein]

Thank you

[@dougrimstad1021]

Love this..... Keep up the great work.

[@tedthesailor172]

It seems to make more sense that wind turbines. I've seen forests of those off both the East Yorkshire coast and the Thames estuary at Margate in the UK. On each occasion I was there on fine sunny days - and windless. They all just stood there, lank and still like a forest of enormous sunflowers. And these were all secured to the seabed with all of the costly civil engineering entailed. Whereas, the tides were still flowing and if they'd been fitted with submersible generators instead, each would've been doing what they were supposed to do - give us electricity...

[@dr.jamesolack8504]

NO system is 100% efficient.

[@neilbush9873]

Great thing is it can be constucted in a ship yard saving time and money for those who want one

[@jabb50]

Great video.

[@sueyoung2115]

"Geostorm"... Great movie!(about five years old) food for thought!

[@wildtwindad]

So essentially all retired miltary subs need not be scrapped. They would be robust enough and have all the electrical systems in place.

[@enterprisestobart]

I see i was not the only one to replise the similarities

[@Youbetternowatchthis]

I am all for it. But I would scrap the whole lot. We really don’t need stealthy doomsday devices under the sea that regularly kill all the poor sailors on them, now do we?

[@enterprisestobart]

@@Youbetternowatchthis I would rather stop building new ones and refit them for this purpose - after all it is more economically sound in the long run

[@Youbetternowatchthis]

True. What I am getting at is that if we could reduce global military spending, even if only by a tiny bit, everyone would be better off and I think it’s a no brainer.

[@enterprisestobart]

@@Youbetternowatchthis true, only problem is the political nightmare of being "threatened" from having a smaller military.

[@satatik21]

This is one of the best channels on KZbin. Have you explored options of going bigger?

[@JustHaveaThink]

Hi Geovanni. I'm just one person, so I'm happy with the growth rate of the channel. I can only do so much on my own :-)

[@recumbentrocks2929]

I remember seeing a design concept for putting wave turbines on the second Avon bridge before they built it. I guess they didn't think it was worth spending the money on it. Interesting and informative video as always.

[@elvenkind6072]

Thanks for this channel and the info you collect and explain. Hearing these new forms of energy-production is like a soothing balm on a very frail nervous system, abused by all the crisis about this and crisis about that, doomsday and end of the world predictions etc. Enjoy the summer, if you got it over there as well! :)

[@alanrobinson2229]

Sound great,but will it harm marine life?

[@leftcoaster67]

Don't think it's like wind turbines, the rotation is not massive and fish tend to avoid strange movement. Besides cats kill birds more than wind turbines. And we don't ban cats.

[@jameshughes3014]

I mean, probably. It's hard to build anything without harming something. It seems it's still experimental, we'll have to find out. It's good to pay attention to those things, but like everything it's a balancing act between harm and benefit I think.

[@bokehbeauty]

Not very appealing considering 2 MW output from such a hostile environment installation. Wind turbines give more than 2 MW since long.

[@etienne8110]

Both are very bad energy wise. At least tides are more regular than wind. Both are a waste of good ressources (steel and concrete by tons per kWh). Lifecycle analysis of CO2 emissions and environnemental impact on the fauna when generalized are required before getting excited on such programs that are harvesting very diffuse energy.

[@bokehbeauty]

@@etienne8110 I agree. It will be interesting to see how this tidal turbine survives 25 years typical lifetime of a wind turbine. I’m pretty sure the ocean will rot it before or massive preventive maintenance is required. Q: which regenerative energy source is your choice under lifetime aspects?

[@CrusaderSports250]

@@bokehbeauty what part of the wind generator has that lifespan? working close to an aero generator supplier, the blades seem to need replacing as does the generator itself, is it just the concrete and column that has this lifespan?, if so then operating costs will be greater than first thought.

[@bokehbeauty]

@@CrusaderSports250 To my knowledge blades and generators today are replaced to increase energy output, it is not preventive maintenance. Pitch and yaw gear maybe the only preventive maintenance critical parts. Engineering with Rosie has an excellent KZbin video on lifetime engineering vs. technological increase in energy output.

[@CrusaderSports250]

@@bokehbeauty replacement for whatever reason knocks the twenty five year life argument, every time a component is replaced its replacement has to be made, with all the energy usage, pollution and everything else that goes with it, the impression is they get put up and run for twenty five years, and after a period of time they repay their pollution footprint and thereafter the energy is as pollution free as can be, replacing major components could well push its pollution footprint beyond its lifespan making a mockery of the idea of clean energy, but the goal of greater profit by increased efficiency views that as irrelevant.

[@alcubz2622]

Im a fan of tidal power. Thanks for this video

[@ashoakwillow]

Well done Dave, and i trust that you will keep us updated on progress. Nice to see in your comments thats some have invested in Orbital; don't curse the dark, light a candle

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks James. I will keep you posted.

[@TheTheiceking]

why dont they slap some turbines on existing wind turbines?

[@user-es6gq3je4b]

yo dwag

[@TheTheiceking]

@@user-es6gq3je4b sup bruh

[@user-es6gq3je4b]

@@TheTheiceking I thought you like turbines, so I put turbines on a turbine :D

[@enterprisestobart]

depends on the tidal direction and the strength/design of the offshore turbine posts I believe it would be more economically sound to combine kite based wind with salters duck based wave energy in my opinion due to the lower enviromental damage of the two compared to their counterparts due to having to build in foundations for the turbines. This is also because all of the electric and gearbox technology is at sea level and can be easily maintained by boat and that the entire structure can be detached from its tempory moring and towed back to port if a major malfunction occured that could not be repaired remotely

[@Joshcodes808]

So if we built sea walls to stop the consequences of global warming could we also use those sea walls for tidal energy generation?

[@dwaneanderson8039]

Not really. The point of a sea wall is to keep the water out. To generate power, you have to let water flow through the turbine past the wall, which kind of defeats the purpose.

[@Joshcodes808]

@@dwaneanderson8039 wouldn’t the sea walls still limit the maximal tidal levels?

[@corujariousa]

Thanks for the video. I believe a similar device could be built in smaller scale for use in rivers and even perhaps as an energy alternative for campers (a micro version).

[@lanwan]

I was wondering what was happening with tidal energy research. Seems to have fallen off the media radar!! Thanks for the update