One government-funded project was identified: the FRST-funded NIWA-IRL-Power Projects Ltd joint venture (FRST Contract C08X0401). 25 Most of the projects appear to be relatively small, privately funded, led by entrepreneurs and enthusiasts, and focused on testing or proving devices developed overseas in New Zealand conditions. There are currently 12 wave and tidal projects underway in New Zealand at various stages of development. The New Zealand Wave and Tidal Energy Industry The availability of these devices commercially is leading to the emergence of a New Zealand wave and tidal industry. The WaveGen and the Pelamis devices are already producing energy for local grids in a number of locations other devices are expected to come on stream shortly. The opening of the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in 2004Ī pledge of £42m (NZ$111m) in 2005 by the UK Minister of Energy to facilitate wave and tidal energy feeding into the UK national grid by 2008. This is despite tremendous support internationally (and from European governments in particular) for the development of commercial devices within 3–5 years, 23 including: Their contributions have, however, been small and development has been slow. 22 Despite falling out of favour due to its adverse environmental effects, a new 254 MW tidal dam is currently being built in South Korea. Tidal barrages have been generating energy in Europe since 1966 (the 240 MW La Rance plant in France) and in the US since 1984 (the 20 MW Annapolis plant). The International Wave and Tidal Energy Industry Tidal current systems are likely to be a magnitude greater. Literature references suggest that wave power is likely to be best suited to small to medium-sized generation extending to 20 MW capacity at any single site. * The size of the device given here is the rating for one device though many are designed to be built as an array utilizing multiple units. The University of Manchester Intellectual Property Ltd Prototype testing complete – set for commercialisation Table C3.1: Types of Wave and Tidal Devices The concentration of the New Zealand population along the coastline also provides many potential opportunities for the deployment of wave and tidal devices as options for localised or distributed generation, supplanting the need for high-cost transmission network upgrades.Ī recent EECA fact sheet on Marine Energy 19 highlighted some additional commercial arguments for the deployment of wave and tidal energy devices, including the shorter transmission distances from localised utilisation modular and incremental deployment options that minimise installation costs and capital requirement and the more rapid installation timeframes compared to hydro or thermal fuel plants (although this is not always the case). Has a number of harbours (eg, the Kaipara and Hokianga) with tidal movements. Has significant tidal currents in Cook Strait, French Pass and Foveaux Strait Has a large wave energy resource in the western and southern coasts from waves generated in the Southern Ocean and Tasman Sea New Zealand is particularly suited to wave and tidal energy production as it:
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