SIEMENS UPS STAKE IN TIDAL ENERGY

Siemens increases stake in ocean power specialist Marine Current Turbines
November 4, 2011 (Siemens)

"Siemens is increasing its stake in Britain’s Marine Current Turbines Ltd. to 45 percent…[as part of the expansion of its] newly founded Solar & Hydro Division within Siemens’ Energy Sector…Effective October 1, 2011…[the] Renewable Energy Division was split into two new divisions Wind Power and Solar & Hydro…

"Marine Current Turbines (MCT) evolved from a pioneer to a technology leader in horizontal-axis marine current turbines and has 25 employees. In February 2010, Siemens acquired a minor stake…MCT has already successfully implemented its first commercial-scale demonstrator project SeaGen in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Since November 2008, two axial turbines with a combined capacity of 1.2 MW have been feeding power into the grid…his project has thus produced the largest amount of electricity in the whole marine current power sector."

SeaGen, the MCT tidal energy device now generating electricity from tides in Northern Ireland's Strangford Lough (click to enlarge)

"Marine current turbines generate electricity by utilizing tidal current flows. The SeaGen turbine is fixed on a structure and is driven by the flow of the tides, with a key advantage that the generated power is precisely predictable in the tidal cycle. This technology is effectively similar to a wind turbine, with the rotor blades driven not by wind power but by tidal currents. Water has an energy density more than 800 times that of wind. Twin rotors rotate with the movement of the tidal flow and the blades pitch through 180 degrees to optimally track tidal current direction and speed…

"…[Ocean power is emerging with strong growth rates driven by global CO2 reduction commitments. Until 2020, experts anticipate double-digit growth rates for the ocean power business. Based on further estimates the global potential for power generation using tidal power plants is 800 terawatt-hours (TWh) per annum…That is equivalent to 25 percent above the total power demand in Germany and between three and four percent of power consumption worldwide]…"