Tidal Lagoon Power

www.tidallagoonpower.com...

www.theguardian.com...

. . . the Swansea Bay scheme would be a proof-of-concept project opening the way for a series of lagoons around the coast, costing less due to economies of scale and meeting 8% of the country’s power needs for 120 years.

First I would say these are wants, not needs. We didn't need this stuff to evolve and we don't need it now. It's what we want for our modern lifestyles. We could concentrate on personal generators of some sort, but the energy tycoons would have no way to enslave us if we did that. Huge projects like this make us slaves to the controllers.

www.tidallagoonpower.com...

By employing British industry and British money to harness Great Britain’s natural resource, we will start to address our energy problems and at the same time give birth to a new phase of national industrial success.

We'll find out if that's true.



The construction method is shown at 1:45 in this video.

When the cooling water lagoon for the Oldbury nuclear power station was being constructed in the Severn, the old boatmen warned it would silt up. When it was finished it very quickly silted up. A dredger was permanently employed there and still the lagoon only ever functioned at a small fraction of its designed capacity.

This was written about a similar proposed project.
www.somersetlive.co.uk...

A new generation of engineers obviously exists who treat the Severn like a blank canvas upon which structures of any orientation can be laid out without the slightest underlying appreciation of water and sediment circulations, or in particular, the quantities involved.

I write as a former government oceanographer, holder of the Telford Premium Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers for my work in this estuary and former chairman of the International Navigation Association (PIANC) expert working group on "Minimising Harbour Siltation". Neither I, nor I'm sure any of my international colleagues, would be capable of excluding fine sediment from the large enclosures envisaged in this concept.

I think if you asked the elders what problems they could foresee for this project they would say 'It's going to silt up'.

a reply to: Kester

Born and raised in Swansea bay mate, you'll be hard pressed to find anyone against the proposed project.
Construction jobs and associated supply opportunities have a lure that outweighs any thoughts of slavery to energy suppliers.

As far as dredging goes it's probably been assumed in the plans, because the deep water harbour for the steelworks at the other end of the bay has been constantly dredged for decades.

a reply to: grainofsand

Just found this. www.theengineer.co.uk...

TF: Silt build-up is an issue that has been subject to detailed and thorough investigation as part of our environmental impact assessment (EIA) work and engineering studies. It should be noted that unlike previously proposed tidal range schemes we will be operating across four quadrants (bidirectional turbining and pumping), which means that standstill periods when sediment can settle out are kept to a minimum and will be on average less than two hours. In addition, due to the residual momentum of the water within the lagoon, even during hold periods, there will always be some circulation. It is inevitable, however, that there will be sediment accretion, but designs have sought to minimise its impact and over the longer term it will be managed with maintenance dredging to maintain the water depths and tidal exchange volumes.

And this to stimulate my brain cells. infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk...(2).pdf So stimulating the link doesn't work. It can be found by searching Swansea silt sediment.

The amount of regular dredging is yet to be known. If someone could work out how to dredge without using fossil fuels that would be a big bonus.

a reply to: Kester

The whole thing will be built with fossil fuels, and yep the dredgers will use the same, but if/when enough energy is produced then it is possible there will be a net reduction overall.

I'm with you though, micro generation and a change from the beloved 240 AC is the way forward, but that would be a paradigm shift most people are not ready for.

Another great idea comes from a scientist named Rick Sanchez who surprisingly works out of his daughters' garage. What he did was put a spatially, tesilated void inside a modified temporal field until a planet developed intelligent life. Unbelievably, this was contained in a box about the size of a car battery! He then introduced that life to the wonders of electricity which they generate on a global scale, and some it goes to power his vehicle incidentally, and to charge his phone and stuff. He has an entire planet he created making power for him. He defends the notion of "slavery" by incorporating power making into his created society. They work for each other, and pay each other. They buy houses, they get married and make children to replace them when they get too old to make power.

Some have said this is just slavery with extra steps. I think in many ways it mirrors our own society.

We'll see if it catches on!

The promotional artist impression video does look awesome and sounds very appealing.

However I share your concerns about these energy companies. In the bbc article on this, it states "TLP forecasts that its lagoons would generate power for 120 years and is seeking a 90-year contract at £89.90 per mega watt hour (MWh). That would be below the £92.50 per MWh agreed for the new Hinkley C nuclear power station."

I thought the Hinkley nuclear power station agreed price per MWh was extremely high and was widely criticized? yet this is not that much more cheaper.

originally posted by: EternalShadow ... They work for each other, and pay each other. They buy houses, they get married and make children to replace them when they get too old to make power.

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Wait...what??

a reply to: Kester
Given English climates, the tides are probably more reliable energy generators than the sun or the wind.