Tidal power
Neptune Power are confident of getting the $10m together to put in a test turbine into Cook Strait by January 2009, according to article in the Press and DomPost today. The test platform will be located off Sinclair Head at about 80m underwater. They will have cameras and sensors on it to monitor how it works and how whales and fish respond to it. They are in a consent process with Wellington Regioanl Council but aren’t expecting any problems. It’ll be a great thing when it gets going.
Bookmark to:
October 1st, 2007 at 11:40 am
Cool
October 1st, 2007 at 1:20 pm
It’s too risky. Should even one Maui dolphin perish…
and I take it the $10m Neptune needs is just the RMA application fee?
October 1st, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I think its a good thing its finally happening, there should be more put in the kaipara harbour and many other places, I noticed “In December, the Government pledged $8 million spread over four years towards tidal and wave power developments.” sometimes i wonder why they even bother, it will probably cost at least that much to do reports on who will get the money.
Shouldn’t you be complaining about this or are you in a agreement with me that its to late and the maui dolphin will probably become extinct like many other creatures in these coming years of climate change.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:20 am
Fine for research but the power will be expensive and perhaps unreliable. There are other less costly and more reliable methods available that should be a priority
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I saw a presentation about this.
Because water is a lot denser than air, the blade speed can be lower, so it’s reasonably unlikely to kill animals in the sea, including dolphins. Of course, the test one is the opportunity for them to find out if they’re wrong :-}
As for the cost of the commercial power, it’s their money they’re risking, and I don’t know a good reason to not let them try.
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Tidal power is predictable centuries ahead. The only reason it would be unreliable is a failure - or being struck by a passing whale. Unfortunately the latter is a real possibility, and the whales tend to move like lumbering cows. Dolphins and smaller fish are likely to have little trouble avoiding the turbines.
The energy available from Cook Strait tidal flow is GigaWatts and it is not reliant on fickle winds, cloudless days or rain.
Trevor.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:47 pm
This is cool, I hope it works.
New Zealand should have a much easier job than most countries in making its electricity generation 100% renewable. After all, a large proportion is already renewable. With a good mixture of energy efficiency, wind, solar (where its sunny enough), tidal power, wave power, geothermal power etc, the remaining non-renewable generation should be able to be replaced.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:10 am
Don’t forget that a sunlight can be directly converted into heat and airflow (for cooling and ventilation) and wind can be converted directly into mechanical power or stored for later use as compressed air. Direct use of wind and sunlight is not included in official energy consumption stats because those generally those stats only measure energy that is sold.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Hi Guys
Have any of you found this site:
http://www.inhabitat.com
the latest update mentions tidal power
October 11th, 2007 at 11:59 am
I had a look at http://www.inhabitat.com but could only find two articles on wave power generation.
Trevor.