The UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and consultants Frazer-Nash have developed an open source tool for the assessment and reduction of tidal energy project risks.
The companies said the tool and associated guidance documents help to identify key uncertainties in wave and tidal energy and provide a standardised approach to assessing and reducing uncertainty, thus allowing projects to be compared on a like-for-like basis.
Frazer-Nash group lead Neil Adams said: “Understanding these risks can help project developers, technology developers and researchers to prioritise their activities to reduce uncertainties. It can also help project financiers to understand the importance and potential scale of uncertainties, informing discussion on economic risk.”
ORE Catapult renewable technology engineer Ralph Torr said: “This project is another great example of the collaborative approach ORE Catapult is taking to help understand and lower risks associated with the first commercial tidal energy arrays.”
He added: “Such collaborative activities are vital to ensuring the tidal industry as a whole maximises the value of both research and commercial activities to date, and over the coming years.”
ORE Catapult and Frazer-Nash will perform a live demonstration of the tool at a workshop to be held at next week’s International Tidal Energy Summit pre-conference risk and reliability workshop in London on 23 November.
The three guidance documents and the uncertainty management tool can be found on ORE Catapult’s website here.
Image: Tidal turbine drive test (Ore Catapult)
Tidal risk tool launched
ORE Catapult and Frazer-Nash partnership to reduce marine project risks
By EBS