Integrating Tidal energy into the European Grid

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This project will address energy-related carbon emissions in North-West Europe (NWE) through the development of an all-in-one solution that includes clean predictable energy generation (tidal energy), safe export to the grid and the storage and delivery of the excess capacity in hydrogen. Furthermore, ITEG will develop horizontal axis tidal energy technologies (currently not yet commercially exploited in the marine environment). The cost of pre-commercial demonstration for Ocean Energy is high and investors are reluctant to invest until the technology has been proven in the sea at scale. This project will drive down these costs (which is the main factor limiting its uptake) through the development of an integrated solution. Construction of a 2MW horizontal axis tidal converter and deployment of an integrated hydrogen production solution are the main investments envisaged through the ITEG project. Following a thorough demonstration period business plans will be developed for the construction of one more turbine (expanding the farm nominal power to 4MW) to be deployed at the EMEC site. In addition to this the project partners will develop opportunities for commercial projects across the North-West Europe region and globally with a target of 3 to 5 new farms with a total of 100MW installed per year in a ten years time. These developments will lead to benefits in line with INTERREG Programme Specific Objective 3: jobs maintained (>1500 jobs), increased capacity of renewable energy production (plus 350GWh/year) and a reduction in GHG emissions (less 300,000 tons/year) which is vital to address global warming.

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