
Scotland to House Largest Tidal Turbine - digighoul
https://digit.fyi/scotland-to-house-largest-tidal-turbine-on-the-planet/
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smackay
Here's a description of an earlier attempt,
[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/inside-worlds-
firs...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/inside-worlds-first-large-
scale-effort-to-harness-tidal-energy-180960632/)

All the press releases and articles describing work in the Pentland Firth are
breathlessly optimistic. The environment here is fantastically unkind to
marine equipment and at least one previous project (can't recall or find the
details) was destroyed in a very short time.

To give you an idea, the current at Duncansby Head at the opposite end of the
channel reaches 10 knots.

This stretch of coast is great to visit, especially on a clear day in winter.
As it starts to get dark, you can watch about 8 lighthouses on the
neighbouring islands switch on and flash their beams across the cold, dark
waters.

[https://www.nlb.org.uk/lighthouses/duncansby-
head/](https://www.nlb.org.uk/lighthouses/duncansby-head/)

Disclaimer: Grew up in Wick, 20km to the south.

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SEJeff
What are your thoughts on the project as someone familiar with the area? Good,
bad, mixed?

As an outsider, it seems that Scotland is leading the world in offshore wind,
which is someone Scottish Engineers could export to many other places. I see
it as exciting.

~~~
smackay
It's a resource that's hard to ignore. There are good electricity grid
connections nearby because of the, now decommissioned, fast-breeder reactor at
Dounreay. It's a hellishly difficult place to work but that's kind of the
point - if the technology can be made to work here then it will work anywhere.

There's a long history of marine engineering in the country. There's a lot of
good expertise here and the Scottish government sees renewables and the
associated technology to be a good export opportunity for the country. It
would be great if the country to take the experience gained in the oil
industry and use it in more environmentally friendly ways (if you ignore all
the fish that the tidal turbines will be turning into an all you can eat sushi
buffet for the local gulls).

~~~
teh_klev
> here are good electricity grid connections nearby because of the, now
> decommissioned, fast-breeder reactor at Dounreay

That and the recent 400kV upgrade of the Beauly to Denny high voltage
transmission line to provide additional capacity for renewable energy sources:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_policy_of_Scotland#Beau...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_policy_of_Scotland#Beauly-
Denny_power_line)

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cesis
Apparently this is a 2MW turbine

[https://simecatlantis.com/2018/09/13/simec-atlantis-
energy-u...](https://simecatlantis.com/2018/09/13/simec-atlantis-energy-
unveils-worlds-largest-single-rotor-tidal-turbine-the-ar2000/)

~~~
simongeist
Isn't 1,5 - 2MW much the same amount a standard onshore wind turbine would
provide? I assume the tidal power generation must have some advantages (e.g.
more constant output?)

~~~
trebligdivad
I don't think it's the fact that it's constant, as it's predictable - you know
when the tides will happen, unlike wind where you might have a week of low
wind.

~~~
cesis
Actually wind and sun are very predictable, but intermittent.

The main benefit, I think, is having multiple generation sources as these will
smoothen out any power drops from other sources.

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ishtanbul
Tidal power is very challenging. Tidal stream devices like this have a very
high LCOE (levelized cost of energy) because the stresses on them are massive
so they are built like tanks but capture little of the energy flowing past
them. Tidal range designs like La Rance
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Station))
are significantly more economic, but actually developing them and building
them due to the size they need to be to be economic presents a major headwind
for developers. There is huge potential globally for this but the will from
investors and governments to really focus on it hasn't been there. These are
mega-engineering projects with big risks, so capital flows to simple solar and
wind instead.

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poutrathor
Their ancestor :
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Station)

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vermontdevil
They tried one (2mw project) in Canada’s Bay of Fundy but the turbine got
damaged. I think we have a ways to go before seeing tidal power generation
being commercialized

[https://globalnews.ca/news/4644316/cape-sharp-tidal-
turbine-...](https://globalnews.ca/news/4644316/cape-sharp-tidal-turbine-
damaged/)

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antome
Here's a good video on why getting Tidal power to work is hard:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMRiKmgxrh0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMRiKmgxrh0)

~~~
arethuza
I've just skimmed it, but that video appears to be about wave power rather
than tidal power?

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GreeniFi
“Oh flower of Scotland When will we see Your like again”.

Well done Scotland!

