The Northern Territory Government in Australia has granted a site license to Tenax Energy to establish a major tidal energy project near Darwin. The company wants to install at least 200 one-megawatt turbines in the Clarence Strait between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands.
A company spokesman said that the tidal currents in northern Australian waters, with tidal falls of eight to 11 metres, are an untapped energy source. If successful, the project will generate enough renewable energy out of the Northern Territory to meet all of the Territory's requirements under the Federal Government's 20 per cent renewable energy target. The licence allows the company to undertake a range of studies on site so that they can complete an environmental impact statement.
Tidal energy is produced through the use of tidal energy generators. These large underwater turbines are placed in areas with high tidal movements and are designed to capture the kinetic motion of the ebbing and surging of ocean tides in order to produce electricity. Tidal power has great potential for future power and electricity generation because of the massive size of the oceans and the reliability of the tides.
Closer to home the SeaGen experimental tidal installation near Portaferry in Strangford Lough has been in operation for over two years. SeaGen is the largest and most powerful tidal stream turbine in the world and the only one that is regularly generating electricity for customers, having been accredited by OFGEM, the UK industry regulator, as an “official” power station.
The award-winning 1.2MW turbine has been operating in Northern Ireland's Strangford Lough since April 2008 and last August achieved another operational milestone by delivering its 2 millionth kWh of power to the grid. This power is already being sold by ESB's retail electricity supply business, ESB Independent Energy, to customers in Northern Ireland.
ESB International (ESBI) has recently entered an agreement with Marine Current Turbines to develop an initial phase of a 100MW tidal energy project off the Antrim coast in Northern Ireland using the SeaGen technology.
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