WAVE VERSUS TIDAL CATAPULT
WAVE VERSUS TIDAL? OUR SEAS HAVE ROOM FOR BOTH
As an island nation, we have huge wave resources in the seas surrounding us. Provided that wave power technologies are sufficiently commercialised, this presents huge social and economic advantages for the UK.
FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE
One of the fundamental issues facing the offshore renewable energy sector today however is whether continued investment in wave power technologies makes economic sense. Many stakeholders view wave power as an expensive technology, requiring large sums of money to prototype and commercially test large units.
Over the last few years, tidal power development has arguably overtaken wave power development in the UK. There are now more, and bigger, tidal prototypes in our waters than wave devices because the industry has attracted investments from some of the industrial manufacturing powerhouses, a pattern that is yet to be repeated in the wave industry.
This is sometimes seen as a sign that, as far as engineering competence and investor confidence is concerned, it’s better to back tidal than wave power.
PAGE 32
www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52