Nearholmer wrote: ↑16 Oct 2022, 3:06pm
What are the relative capacities of tidal lagoon generation and nuclear?
That’s a little like asking if a moped is faster than a boat, it's unspecific.
Nearholmer wrote: ↑16 Oct 2022, 3:06pm
The odd figures I’ve seen suggest that the largest foreseeable tidal lagoon might have an
intermittent output of somewhere in the order of 10th of the
continuous output of a modern nuclear plant. If that is correct then saying “just a few” is well off beam.
I’m not sure where you glean these figures from, but estimates vary a lot. Remember that although the individual technologies exist this is something as a whole which has not yet been done, there are
significant arguments in favour of the more efficient tidal barrage rather than lagoons.
I fully understand your scepticism, very similar doubts were expressed about wind and solar electricity generation but even with negligible UK Grid storage and lower capacity factors than tidal, these are widely considered an ongoing success for the UK grid supply. It's clear there are challenges to be worked through and design will evolve, more reason to initially proceed with multiple smaller schemes.
To consider one tidal lagoon in isolation is not representative of what a series of tidal power generators around our coastline would achieve.
Storage is increasingly critical to the resilience of our future energy supplies whatever the mix, tidal lagoons and barrages are able to add storage on a large scale for low marginal cost. That alone is an important asset.
Nearholmer wrote: ↑16 Oct 2022, 3:06pm
I’m not saying don’t use or consider lagoons, but it’s like the previous debate about low-head hydro, it needs to be thought about realistically, and as part of a mix of things, rather than over-optimistically.
One or two contributors to this thread tried to make it sound as if I was suggesting British river hydro was capable of supplying a large proportion of demand even though it couldn't have been clearer this wasn't the case, rather that as a small part of a future energy grid it is ideal in making it diverse and resilient.
There is no unrealistic thought or over-optimism on my part as you suggest, just a recognition that technology does not stand still if given room to develop, that diversity is important in an energy grid which relies significantly on cheap solar and wind and a zeal to extract ourselves from the weak-minded, lazy approach which has landed Britain in the perilous position it now is.
We're relying on gas brought in by ship from far afield to keep the lights and heating on, reinstating coal powered electricity and keeping our fingers crossed for a windy winter, while paying the oil industry billions in sweeteners, spending billions storing nuclear waste and investing very little in long term, clean energy - leaving it to the markets to ignore our interests.
The professor in this news item has raised very awkward questions for tidal energy, but sees the opportunities it creates if done well -
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ha ... ar-AAZmP67. It's an article well worth a read.
British government has been plagued by indecision, unclear thinking and bad advice in the post-war period, in particular from the 1970s onwards. Time and again we've seen fine engineers with ideas which have gone on to conquer the world which the British themselves have shunned, to the profit of foreign governments and business, to our steady decline from the “can do” culture and the prosperity which comes with it when allied with good brains. Perhaps the commercial disaster of our nuclear industry has not helped this nervous attitude, at least Gordon Brown saw reality and moved rapidly to sell off our liabilities to the French.
In some respects this can be labelled an English disease, energy-wise the Welsh and Scots, while fully aware of the challenges, inherently appreciate the practicalities and sense of using renewable energy in a way which many Englishmen quietly ridicule. They prefer to spend money on overcoming complexities and problems which lead to technologies capable of generating clean energy for centuries without risk of large scale disaster, technologies in which we have the potential to lead and so can be exported around the world.