Alstom acquires a 40% equity share in AWS Ocean Energy
22 June 2011
Alstom has taken a 40% equity share in Scottish renewable energy company AWS Ocean Energy, representing Alstom’s entry to the wave energy market. Alstom will be a shareholder alongside Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1 and Scottish Investment Bank, who continue their support of AWS.
The move complements the existing activities of Alstom’s Ocean Energy business in Nantes, France, where the company is developing its 1 MW commercial-scale tidal turbine prototype, the BELUGA 9.
Wave energy, like tidal energy, is CO2-free and has the greatest potential of all existing marine technologies with a worldwide resource estimated between 200 and 300 GW, according to Alstom.
Created in 2004, AWS Ocean Energy is currently focusing on the development and delivery of its AWS-III wave energy converter, a floating device with a rated power output of 2.5MW. The AWS-III system is a 12-sided floating device which sits on the surface of the ocean and uses the action of the waves to produce electricity. The rising and falling motion of the waves forces air forward and backwards through a number of air turbines installed inside the device. The turbines are directly connected to generators that produce electricity.
Support from the Scottish Enterprise-administered WATERS fund (Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support) enabled a 1:9 scale model of the AWS-III to be tested in Loch Ness in 2010.
The UK Government has the ambition to raise the share of electricity generated from renewables from 6.7% today to around 30% by 2020. Wave and tidal energy together has the potential to meet up to 20% of the UK’s current electricity demand, representing 30-50 GW installed capacity, with the UK enjoying around 50% of Europe’s total tidal energy resource. Alstom has a strong commercial footprint in the UK and says it is committed to the region’s fast-growing renewables industry, notably through the development of a 6 MW offshore wind turbine and delivery of three onshore wind farms.
Scotland is at the forefront of marine energy development, creating the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney in 2003, and with over 1.6 GW of lease already awarded for tidal and wave projects in Scottish waters. The Scottish First Minister has recently announced the target to produce the equivalent of at least 100% of Scotland’s electricity from renewable sources by the year 2020.
Portugal, Spain and France are also showing a strong interest in marine energy and wave energy in particular.
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure.
Marine energy has a great potential as a future clean energy source in many places. Will it ever compete (cost wise) with other clean sources such as wind and solar?
Posted by: HarveyD | 22 June 2011 at 08:39 AM
I kind of doubt it, a 3 megawatt wind turbine would take a lot of ocean units to replace. Besides, the California Coastal Commission is VERY unlikely to approve any of those.
Posted by: SJC | 22 June 2011 at 12:47 PM
A 3 megawatt wind turbine would replace 1.2 of these 2.5MW ocean units.
Posted by: ai_vin | 25 June 2011 at 08:41 AM
If you can get them permitted and deployed, even off shore wind is very costly to install and runs into permit problems. The wind corridor from Texas to the Dakotas can provide a lot of power.
It is not 2.5 MW versus 3.0 MW, it is how many will be permitted and actually operate, land based wind turbine power wins hands down in the contest to produce the most power right now and probably will for many years to come.
Posted by: SJC | 25 June 2011 at 04:25 PM