The West Australian government has approved plans to build a 40MW tidal power station in the West Kimberley, paving the way for the development of the state’s first such utility-scale ocean energy plant.
The proposed plant, which is being developed by Tidal Energy Australia (TEA), is earmarked for Doctor’s Creek, near the coastal town of Derby, where extreme tidal movements are expected to be able to generate enough electricity to power between 10,000 and 15,000 homes.
The state’s environment minister, Albert Jacob, has approved the Derby Tidal Power Project subject to 14 conditions, and pending the negotiation of a contract for the construction of power lines to major towns in the West Kimberley.
TEA says the project – for which design and costing was completed in 2003 – is awaiting “a suitable off-take contract” before it can go ahead.
It has been reported that the cost of tidal energy is speculative, but is probably at A$250-$300 per MWh (megawatt hour), or more – which would not be much of a discount from diesel.
However, local politicians have long been pushing for tidal to be exploited in the north of Australia, which enjoys massive tidal surges. It is not clear which tidal turbine technology will be selected, or what state money will be made available.
TEA has said that it intends to use proven off-the-shelf equipment – including a double basin system with six 8MW turbines – and will have a power output of 200GWh (gigawatt hours) per annum.
This would seem to suggest that TEA will source what it requires in northern Europe though no one has a tidal turbine anything like the size envisaged on trial let alone near-market.
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