The Anonymous Widower

Enter The Dragon

Look at this map of UK offshore wind farms. clipped from Wikipedia.

It is only a crude map, but it does show the lack of offshore wind farms around the coasts of Wales and South-West England.

This article on the Engineer is entitled Unlocking The Renewables Potential Of The Celtic Sea.

The article starts with these two paragraphs.

Over the last decade, the UK has become a global leader in renewable marine energy, tapping into the vast resources its coastal geography offers. Offshore wind, in particular, has flourished, with gigawatt-scale projects being deployed off the east coast of England and Scotland, at Hornsea, Dogger Bank and Moray.

However, looking at a map of existing and proposed wind farms, what’s perhaps most striking is the complete absence of projects in the southwest of Britain, off the rugged shores of Wales, Devon and Cornwall, shaped by the fierce North Atlantic. The Celtic Sea – which extends south off Wales and Ireland down past Cornwall and Brittany to the edge of the continental shelf – is estimated to have around 50GW of wind generating capacity alone. What’s more, it also delivers some of the highest tidal ranges in the world, alongside some of the best waters in Europe for generating wave energy. In a country blessed with renewable resources, the Celtic Sea may well be its biggest prize.

The article then discusses how the challenge of developing renewable energy around Wales is being met.

• It describes the relevance of Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW).
• It quotes someone who says. “Eighty per cent of the world’s wind resources are in waters deeper than you would traditionally go with fixed offshore wind.”
• It talks about Blue Gem Wind and their Erebus and Valorous wind farm projects, that I wrote about in Blue Gem Wind.
• It talks of how expertise from offshore oil and gas is being used to develop floating offshore wind.

The article then goes on to talk about tidal power.

The Welsh Government Tidal Lagoon Challenge is mentioned.

• The article notes “The IP for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon has been purchased by a consortium led by Bridgend’s DST Innovations and has been reborn as Blue Eden.”
• Blue Eden is described on this page of the DST Innovations web site. The project is not in the least bit timid or small.
• The article also introduces to the Morlais Tidal Energy Scheme, which has its own web site.

The article then finishes with a few paragraphs about how wind, wave and tidal power can be combined in a single scheme.

Conclusion

The article finishes with this paragraph.

For now, Wales may be lagging slightly behind its Celtic cousin to the north, but if the true potential of the Celtic Sea can be unleashed – FLOW, tidal stream, lagoon and wave – it looks set to play an even more prominent role in the net zero pursuit.

The Red Dragon is entering the battle to replace Vlad the Mad’s tainted energy.

April 6, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Energy | Blue Eden, Blue Gem Wind, Celtic Sea, Erebus Wind Farm, Floating Wind Power, Morlais Tidal Energy Scheme, Offshore Wind Power, Swansea, Swansea Tidal Lagoon, Tidal Power, Valorous Wind Farm, Wales, Wave Power, Wind Power