MET-CERTIFIED: Boosting Marine Energy Projects

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​Through its Interreg 2 Seas Programme, Europe will contribute 5,6 million euro to the MET-CERTIFIED project to accelerate the deployment of marine energy projects. MET-CERTIFIED is run by a consortium of European industrial, governmental and academic partners.

In July 2016, the Interreg 2 Seas Monitoring Committee gave the green light to MET-CERTIFIED, which stands for “Development of International Standards and Certification Schemes for Marine Energy Technologies”.

MET-CERTIFIED aims to increase the adoption of insurable and therefore bankable marine energy projects through the development of internationally recognised standards and certification schemes and by testing and verifying technologies against IEC standards for marine energy convertors.
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Peter Scheijgrond, project manager of the MET-CERTIFIED project said: “This project answers one of the main recommendations from the Ocean Energy Forum Strategic Roadmap. Certification can help to reduce perceived risks of the technologies in terms of performance and structural integrity, and thus helps to attract debt financing and make export much easier. At present no certification scheme for marine energy has been developed and implemented by all main stakeholders in a consistent way.

“The expectation is that it will come into existence over the next three years under the umbrella of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The timing of MET-CERTIFIED is therefore very favourable.”

Scheijgrond continues: “With the funding we can actively involve stakeholders around certification, from banks and insurers to consenting authorities, end-users, test facilities and classification bureaus. We will start with verifying existing pilot projects against the IEC standards. For example, the tidal power plant in the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge barrier will be used as a reference case for certification.

“By applying the standards and certification schemes on such projects we will receive valuable feedback to improve the IEC products. Next we will go through the process of certification: from concept to construction to installation of a full-scale floating platform for tidal turbines.

“We expect this will result in robust standards and certification schemes for the sector, and reduce the perceived risk associated with marine energy projects. This in turn will increase interest from large investors, enabling the sector to deploy large marine energy projects.”

MET-CERTIFIED brings together partners from 4 European countries to advance the marine energy sector in the 2SEAS region: Tidal Testing Center (NL) as project coordinator, the European Marine Energy Center (UK), Lloyd’s Register EMEA (UK), IFREMER (FR), Tocardo Tidal Power (NL), Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (UK), NEC (NL), DNV GL (UK), Regional Development Agency West Flanders (BE), Ghent University (BE).

Facts
MET-CERTIFIED is receiving funding from the Interreg 2 Seas programme 2014-2020, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under subsidy contract No 2S01-020. Also the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands, the provinces of South and North Holland and the Belgian Province of West Flanders are offering financial support.

Interreg 2 Seas Programme:
Interreg 2 Seas is a European Territorial Cooperation Programme covering England, France, the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders). The Programme is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and has a total of €241m ERDF to co-finance projects in the 2014 – 2020 period.

The overall objective is to develop an innovative, knowledge and research based, sustainable and inclusive 2 Seas area, where natural resources are protected and the green economy is promoted. In order to realise this, projects that directly contribute to one of the specific objectives (such as “Low Carbon Technologies”) can be part-financed for up to 60 % of their total project budget.

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PTEC partners with world-leading and state-of-the-art tidal turbine manufacturers

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Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC) today announced its major partnerships with global tidal turbine manufacturers, SCHOTTEL HYDRO GmbH and TOCARDO Tidal Turbines. The transformational tidal energy generation project, having achieved all key project consents earlier this year and with a signed grid connection offer, is now a step further towards delivery with full operations to commence from 2020.

The 30MW project, to be created off the Isle of Wight, will allow long-term operation of SCHOTTEL HYDRO and TOCARDO turbine arrays, simultaneously optimising their performance and delivering reliable electricity to the grid. PTEC is also expected to create and safeguard hundreds of jobs and attract significant investment into the local economy, building on the success of the existing British marine and offshore wind sectors.

Project Director, Mark Francis said: “We are very pleased to announce that TOCARDO and SCHOTTEL HYDRO are partnering with us to deliver 30MW of predictable electricity generated from the tidal currents to the south of the Isle of Wight. This is a major milestone for the project, which is of strategic importance to the UK’s tidal industry and will accelerate the growth of the sector as well as enable a continued cost reduction path for future tidal stream projects. Working with world leading and state-of-the-art turbine manufacturers under our unique project structure will be the key to our success.

We are currently working with SCHOTTEL HYDRO and TOCARDO to identify the optimal site layout and designs, taking into consideration the outputs of our Environmental Impact Assessment and consented envelope. These decisions will be finalised in due course, with onshore construction scheduled to begin next year.”

Niels A. Lange, MD from SCHOTTEL HYDRO said: “It is a privilege to be part of the largest consented tidal stream energy project in England and Wales. We are excited to join such a ground-breaking development and world-class team and look forward to seeing PTEC drive the development of tidal power both in the Solent area and, indeed, worldwide.

We will be spearheading this development through our UK subsidiary TidalStream Ltd., which has been active in this industry for over five years. One of the benefits of our TRITON platform technology is the maximising of local manufactured content. For our demonstrator in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia – due to be installed next year – the local content will be in the order of 75%, bringing manufacturing jobs and benefits to the local community. We are constantly seeking ways to advance our technology and ensure it is fully commercialised for worldwide production. PTEC is the perfect opportunity for us to achieve this.”

Hans van Breugel, CEO of TOCARDO said: “Engaging with PTEC is a significant step in the commercialisation process of TOCARDO’s standard offshore tidal solution, the UFS. After having deployed our turbines at various sites in the Netherlands and operating these projects successfully, we feel confident to jointly realise this world leading multi-MW tidal energy farm at the Isle of Wight. PTEC follow a thorough step-by-step process towards successful project deployment, just like TOCARDO does in product development, and we are proud to have been selected.”

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World Leading UK Tidal Power Project Gains Approval

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A state-of-the-art tidal energy generation project to be constructed off the Isle of Wight has today been given approval. The Marine Management Organisation has given the go-ahead to the offshore elements of the Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC). With the onshore part given local planning consent in September 2015, the project at 30MW is now the largest consented tidal stream energy project in England and Wales. It has also secured its future connection to the UK’s electricity grid.

PTEC is now set to become a world leader in large-scale tidal power production, using the motion of the changing tides to generate clean and reliable electricity for the UK.

PTEC will commercially operate a range of different world-leading turbine technologies in a five square kilometre area off St Catherine’s Point, the southernmost tip of the Isle of Wight. The project will bring international companies to the UK and accelerate the country’s adoption and understanding of tidal energy.

A number of tidal turbine manufacturers have already expressed interest in partnering with PTEC to install their turbines. Once operational, PTEC will generate sufficient clean electricity to power more than 15,000 homes.

Evidence from other tidal energy projects suggests that PTEC could also create or safeguard hundreds of jobs and attract significant investment into the local economy. Opportunities for businesses on the Isle of Wight and around the Solent area will be generated both in the construction and operational stages of the project.

Project Director Mark Francis said:

“We are delighted with the decision. PTEC will be pivotal to the future growth and success of the UK’s tidal energy industry.

“We started work on the PTEC project back in 2010 and secured the seabed Agreement for Lease in November 2012. Following a rigorous development and consenting phase, we have created a project that will deliver reliable power to the UK’s grid and has attracted world leading turbine manufacturers to partner with us in its implementation.

“We now look forward to working with the MMO, local planning authority and all relevant stakeholders in completing the final development phase before we begin construction.”

PTEC is operated as a joint venture between private company, Perpetuus Energy Ltd, and the Isle of Wight Council. It is hoped that the construction of the project will start in 2017, with potential to be generating electricity from late 2018.