Tidal site off Isle of Wight gets MMO’s blessing

Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has granted consent for the offshore elements of the Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC) to be created off the Isle of Wight, UK.

Operated as a joint venture between private company Perpetuus Energy and the Isle of Wight Council, the 30 MW PTEC could begin with the construction in 2017, and potentially start generating electricity from late 2018.

Up to 60 turbines could be deployed at PTEC, whose purpose is to commercially operate a range of different world-leading turbine technologies.

Mark Francis, Project Director, said: “PTEC is of strategic importance to the UK’s tidal industry as it delivers a fully consented site for a range of turbine technologies, deployed in large commercial arrays. By allowing multiple turbine technologies to use the same site and share the same consents and infrastructure, we can simultaneously bring down the cost of energy and accelerate the growth of the tidal industry.”

Work on PTEC started back in 2010, followed by the seabed Agreement for Lease in 2012.

The onshore part of the project was approved by the local planning authority last year.

“We have been liaising with the MMO on the determination of our consent application for more than 16 months, with support from Royal HaskoningDHV and IT Power,” added Francis.

Royal HaskoningDHV, an international engineering and environmental consultancy, was appointed to lead PTEC’s consenting works, including the environmental impact assessment and gaining consent for PTEC.

Also, the renewable energy engineering and project design company, IT Power, was contracted by Royal HaskoningDHV to undertake front end engineering design studies for the project’s core infrastructure.

“We now look forward to further work with the MMO and other stakeholders and completing the final development phase before we begin construction,” Francis concluded.

The power produced from the PTEC site is expected to provide energy enough to power 15,000 homes.