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Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT), was a
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
-based company that developed tidal stream generators, most notably the 1.2 MW
SeaGen SeaGen was the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream generator. It was four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world at the time of installation. It was decommissioned by SIMEC Atlantis Energy Li ...
turbine. The company was bought by the German automation company,
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
in 2012, who later sold the company to Atlantis Resources in 2015.


History

MCT was founded in 2000 to develop ideas of
tidal power Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods. Although not yet widely used, tidal energy has the potential for future electricity generation. T ...
developed by Peter Fraenkel, who had previously been a founder partner of ''IT Power'', a consultancy established to further the development of
sustainable energy Energy system, Energy is sustainability, sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the e ...
technologies. The company was based in
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
and employed 15 people in 2007. By 2003, MCT had installed a 300 kW experimental tidal turbine northeast of
Lynmouth Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the northern edge of Exmoor. The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn River, West Lyn and East Lyn River, East Lyn rivers, in a gorge directly below the neighbouring town of Lynton, w ...
,
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
and by 2008 they had a 1.2 MW turbine,
SeaGen SeaGen was the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream generator. It was four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world at the time of installation. It was decommissioned by SIMEC Atlantis Energy Li ...
, in
Strangford Lough Strangford Lough () is a large sea lough or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the wider British Isles, covering . The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linke ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
which was able to feed electricity into the National Grid. They had contracts to install a full tidal farm in the
Skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...
, off northwest
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, and projects in the
Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...
,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
and
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, however these projects never progressed. In February 2012,
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
acquired a majority share in the company, raising its holding from 45% to over 90%. MCT was wholly owned by Siemens, as part of the Hydro and Ocean Business, before being transferred to the Renewables business, and finally divested to Atlantis Resources in 2015 who effectively shut the company down.


Technology

The technology developed by MCT works much the same as a submerged windmill, driven by the flow of water rather than air. Tidal flows are more predictable than air flows both in time and maximum velocity, therefore, it is possible to bring designs closer to the theoretical maximum. The turbines have a patented feature by which they can take advantage of the reversal of flow every 6 hours and generate on both flow and ebb of the tide. The tips of the blades are placed well below the surface so they will not be a danger to shipping or be vulnerable to storms. Because the blades move relatively slowly (15 rpm) and there are only two, it is unlikely that there will be adverse environmental impacts on fish or other aquatic life. A monitoring project has been set up in the Strangford Lough project to confirm this. Two approaches were being developed by MCT, one for relatively shallow waters, up to , and the other for deeper waters. In shallow waters, the turbines are suspended on a tower which extends above the water surface and enables the turbines to be lifted clear off the water for maintenance purposes. But since the number of sites around the world where this is possible is finite, they also started developing a fully submersed system which will take advantage of larger scale, but will also be able to be brought to the surface for maintenance.


Proof of concept testing

Prior to setting up MCT, Fraenkel developed and tested a proof of concept tidal stream turbine in the Corran Narrows of
Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe ( ) is a sea loch in the Highland Council area, in the west of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe ...
, Scotland. This turbine was 3.5 m diameter (9.6 m² swept area), with two fixed pitch blades, and was capable of generating 15 kW in a 2.25 m/s current. It was tested in 1994-95, in a project primarily funded by
Scottish Nuclear Scottish Nuclear was formed as a precursor to the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Scotland on 1 April 1990. A purpose-built headquarters was built in 1992 in the new town of East Kilbride. It consisted of the nuclear assets ...
. The turbine and submerged generator were supported below a moored catamaran barge by a vertical strut. As the world's first tidal stream turbine, it was donated to the
National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...
in 2010.


SeaFlow

The SeaFlow project involved building a full-size prototype capable of producing 300 kW. This was installed off the
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
coast near
Lynmouth Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the northern edge of Exmoor. The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn River, West Lyn and East Lyn River, East Lyn rivers, in a gorge directly below the neighbouring town of Lynton, w ...
in May 2003. The turbine was supported via a collar around on a single monopile, meaning it could be raised out of the water for maintenance. The turbine again had a two-bladed horizontal-axis rotor, but increased to 11 m diameter (95 m² swept area). It had 180° pitch control on the blades to allow generation on the ebb and flood tides. This was connected via a gearbox to the 450  kVA squirrel cage induction generator. The 80 t foundation, a steel monopile of 2.1 m diameter and 42.5 m in length, was installed by a jack-up barge in June 2003. The turbine was commissioned by August 2003. Planning permission was granted in March 2000 by
Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...
National Park Authority to connect the turbine to the national grid, however it was not ever connected to the gird. The peak electrical power output was just under 300 kW.


SeaGen

SeaGen SeaGen was the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream generator. It was four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world at the time of installation. It was decommissioned by SIMEC Atlantis Energy Li ...
was a full-scale tidal stream power station that first produced electricity on 14 July 2008. However, subsequently a computer problem caused damage to one of the rotors and procuring a replacement took until the end of October 2008. SeaGen was able to operate using just its good rotor through the summer of 2008 and that rotor was operated at full rated power of 600 kW for many hours. After replacement of the damaged rotor SeaGen delivered its full rated power of 1.2MW for the first time on 18 December 2008 - believed to be the first time a "wet renewable energy system" has delivered in excess of 1MW.


Skerries Tidal Stream Array

In a proposed joint project with RWE Npower Renewables, seven of the SeaGen generators, producing about 10  MW at peak, were to be installed off the Skerries, a patch of very fast-moving water off
Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
in northwest
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. An environmental consent application was submitted to the
Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
in March 2011. The scheme was shelved in September 2014 by MCT/Siemens. There was speculation the project would be revived after Atlantis Resources bought MCT, but there has been no progress since. SIMEC Atlantis Energy returned the lease agreement for the site to the
Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
in 2016.


Kyle Rhea Tidal Stream Array

MCT, through a subsidiary Sea Generation (Kyle Rhea) Ltd., also planned to develop an array in the Kyle Rhea Narrows between the
Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...
and the Scottish Mainland, located just to the north of the Kylereah to Glenelg ferry route. The plan was to install four
SeaGen SeaGen was the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream generator. It was four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world at the time of installation. It was decommissioned by SIMEC Atlantis Energy Li ...
turbines, similar to that installed in Strangford Lough, although potentially rated at up to 2 MW each for a total array of 8 MW. The company secured an agreement to lease the seabed from the Crown Estate in 2011, although this was later returned by SIMEC Atlantis Energy in 2016. An
environmental impact assessment Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental impact, environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the te ...
for the project was produced by Royal Haskoning, and an application was submitted to Marine Scotland, however this was later withdrawn. MCT was awarded €18.4 million of funding through the New Entrants Reserve (NER 300) scheme of the
European Union Emissions Trading System The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a carbon emission trading scheme (or ''cap and trade'' scheme) that began in 2005 and is intended to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Cap and trade schemes limit emissions of spec ...
, which was transferred to the MeyGen project in 2015 after the acquisition of MCT by Atlantis.


Canada

An agreement was made with
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
's ''Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation'' (MTEC) in 2007 to develop tidal resources in the
Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...
. With a tidal range exceeding , and flows of up to , this area has long been favoured as the most promising source of tidal power and the newer tidal flow concepts mean that the associated environmental and shipping problems of barrage schemes are no longer prohibitive. MTEC concluded that MCT had the most proven technology of the companies evaluated.Arrangement with Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation
On the west coast, they also agreed to install at least three 1.2 MW turbines in the Campbell River in
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
as a first step in developing tidal farms in that river and other tidal waters. Neither of these projects in Canada were completed, however.


See also

*
Tidal Power Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods. Although not yet widely used, tidal energy has the potential for future electricity generation. T ...
* npower UK


Notes

* {{cite journal , author = Wang Jifeng, Mueller Norbert , year = 2011 , title = Numerical investigation on composite material marinecurrent turbine using CFD , journal = Cent. Eur. J. Eng. , volume = 1 , issue = 4, pages = 334–340 , doi = 10.2478/s13531-011-0033-6 , bibcode = 2011CEJE....1..334W , doi-access = free Technology companies of the United Kingdom Tidal power companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Bristol