City’s steelworks helping to create power from the sea

Steel from Scunthorpe has been used in a pioneering wave energy device to be trialled off Scotland.

The offshore grade steel manufactured at Tata Steel in the north Lincolnshire town and then rolled at the company’s plate mill in Dalzell, Motherwell, is being used in the 26m long and 16m wide device which will be installed in waters off Orkney later this summer.

Aquamarine Power’s device can produce 800kW of energy, enough for around 600 homes.

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Deirdre Fox, Tata Steel’s Sales and Marketing Director for Energy and Power, said: “This contract is another example of Tata Steel increasing its profile in the renewables sector.

“This is an emerging industry that is crucial to the UK’s energy security and we are keen to support the development of efficient new supply chains in this field.”

The Oyster 800 is said to generate 250 per cent more power than the developer’s first full-scale device, at a third of the cost.

It works by capturing energy in nearshore waves and converting it into electricity.

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The device incorporates a wave-powered pump to push high pressure water to drive an onshore hydro-electric turbine.

Wave and tidal energy generation could eventually provide a fifth of the UK’s electricity needs. Steph Merry, from the Renewable Energy Association, said, but having to design the devices to cope with the 100-year giant wave made them difficult and expensive.

“It’s challenging and I think it is something people are learning from and there will be the occasional mishap,” she said. Tidal power devices were easier to design as the tides were completely predictable.