Gensure Generators Blog

The Scottish Government shelved a consultation this week aimed at increasing the financial incentives available to renewable energy projects, such as tidal and wind generators.

The public consultation, into how Scotland can up the number of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) being sold was originally meant to be launched on 27 August, although sources close top the Scottish Government now admit that it is likely to be delayed at least until 8 September.

Proposed amendments to the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2010 were to focus particularly on projects for generators harnessing wave and tidal energy.

Scotland already enjoys better financial incentives for marine energy generators than the rest of the UK, but ministers are nevertheless anxious that rates are increased to reflect the massive potential that the Scottish coast has for tidal energy.

The planned changes would mean that wave energy generators would get five ROCs for every megawatt of energy generated. For tidal generators, the amount would be three ROCs per megawatt. In the rest of the UK both tidal and wave generators only receive two ROCs per megawatt, which is the same as for the less efficient offshore wind farms.

BusinessGreen.com quoted a Scottish Government source, which said: “We want to improve renewable energy, maximise renewables’ potential and help facilitate development of renewable energy in Scotland.”

The source added that another aspect of the consultation is to allow offshore wind developers to receive subsidies for separate phases of long-term projects – as reported recently on this blog – to give guaranteed support to developers of biomass and formulate criteria to asssess sustainability in the biomass and bio-liquids sectors.

The University of Edinburgh gathered plaudits this week after revelations that it has set up a record number of trailblazing new companies in the 2009-2010 academic year – including a firm supplying generators for wind farms.

The top centre of learning created 40 new firms over this period, compared to just 26 at the same time in 2008-09 – the largest number of companies ever created by a Scottish university over a 12-month period.

The University of Edinburgh’s the university’s commercialisation arm has set up a total of 131 companies over the past five years, with a total staff count of 300. of these, an impressive 85 per cent are still up and running.

In the last five years, it has formed 131 companies, which currently employ more than 300 staff. More than 85 per cent of them are still in operation.

Among the successful firms created by Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI) is NGenTec, which manufactures light-weight power generators suitable for wind turbines. The firm recently scooped a lucrative £800,000 contract to supply its generators to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.

ERI chief executive Derek Waddell told BBC News: “As well as the unprecedented increase in the number of companies formed in 2009-2010 by the university, the quality of the companies created is at a higher level than ever and this is testament to the entrepreneurship and creativity of the university’s staff and students, and to the excellent support provided by ERI’s company formation team.

“Several of the new firms present real potential not only to contribute positively to the Scottish economy, but also to become globally significant – potentially helping to generate further economic growth and new jobs.”

Engineers are getting excited over a new technology that could transform windows into highly efficient power generators.

The technology is based on transparent solar cells, made using gold nanoparticles. Developers at Norwegian tech firm EnSol AS believe that the efficiencies achieved through the process could be as high as 80 per cent.

EnSol engineers are now working with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Leicester University to take the process out of the labs and into the real world of power generators.

The university’s professor of nanotechnology Chris Binns suggested that, as well as generating power for homes and other buildings, car roofs or aircraft wings could also be coated with the substance.

“The first application you think of though is coating windows in buildings,” he admitted.

“There is power to burn with windows because even in the UK you’ll easily get 500W/m². If you think of a square metre in a typical office building, it’s absolutely massive.”

The technology was invented by EnSol co-founder Phil Denby, who said that it was important now to make the leap from conceptual to practical applications.

“We’re struggling with funding, as all research projects are, so we haven’t got to a stage where we can compete against any existing cell technology,” he revealed.

“But the way the cell is fabricated means we’re not dependent on the bandgap energy like silicon solar cells. So potentially we could get up to the thermodynamic limit of solar cell technology. Rather than 30 per cent with silicon, we could get up to 80 per cent efficiency.”

Small amounts of the new material have been created at Leicester University for use in prototypes, thanks to equipment provided by EnSol.

The hope is that the nascent photovoltaic technology will eventually be less expensive and more efficient than silicon cells, with the capacity to be “sprayed on” a surface.

A Scottish pensioner is facing off against the UK government over his plans to erect a wind turbine generator outside his home in Selkirkshire.

Wind turbines have become increasingly popular in recent years as one of the most accessible renewable energy generators, with even Prime Minister David Cameron revealing that he has one on his roof.

However Tony Clay, who lives in the town of Midlem, found himself on the wrong end of the Ministry of Defence after he decided to place a 15-metre high power generator outside his house – with officials declaring the plan a risk to the country’s monitoring of international underground nuclear testing.

Mr Clay applied for permission at Borders Council, but was knocked back following an official objection by the MoD, the Daily Record newspaper reported. This itself was overturned when Mr Clay lodged an appeal.

Despite this, the men from the ministry are not giving up and are continuing to vociferously object, pointing out that his house is less than30 miles from Britain’s sole nuclear test monitoring station at Eskdalemuir in Dumfriesshire. The row has now gone to the Scottish Government.

Civil servants insist that the station’s exclusion zone has had its “noise budget” breached and are adamant that there must be no wind farms in the area.

Mr Clay is a former civil servant himself, having spent years as an agriculture inspector.

He told the newspaper: “A large one-megawatt turbine just outside the 50km zone is 13 times more likely to affect the MoD station than my little turbine.”

“If the vibrations will affect the station, why do they not object to all wind farm developments? We will see if the Scottish parliament side with the MoD or common sense but I’m not confident common sense will prevail.”

The application is now in the hands of Holyrood ministers who will make the final decision about the placing of the generator.

The government published proposals this week to phase in financial support for offshore wind generators under the mandatory requirements of the Renewables Obligation.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launched a consultation yesterday on next year’s Renewable Obligation Order as part of a series of announcements which also included proposals for mandatory sustainability standards for solid biomass and biogas.

When it comes to large offshore generator projects, DECC has suggested that financial support could be phased in, allowing developers to register groups of wind turbine generators over a five-year period.

Developers would be able to register for separate Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) in various stages of operational capacity, and the 20-year government support period would apply for each of them.

One reason for this is that many offshore wind power developers have complained that they are unable to receive an early ROC income stream if they require the full 20 years support, due to long construction periods.

Currently, developers are forced to either register for RO support as soon as the first generators come online, or wait until the entire wind farm is complete. Because of the 20-year terms of the support, getting funding early means that many of the later turbines will not have been operating for the full support period.

“Allowing each turbine or string of turbines to receive 20 years support would be administratively more complicated and expensive than the current position,” the DECC consultation document explains.

“We are therefore proposing that offshore wind stations should be allowed to register capacity that has been brought into operation at one point every year for a maximum of five years.”

A massive tidal generator is currently undergoing rigorous testing in preparation for its role powering the Deep visitor attraction in Hull.

The Deep is a Futuristic aquarium in the East Yorkshire city of Kingston-upon-Hull, which features more than 3,500 species of fish – including sharks and rays.

Its situation on the banks of the River Humber off the western end of the city’s Victoria Dock makes it the perfect candidate for tidal power generation, and the 150-plus tonne tidal generator is being calibrated for just that purpose.

The Proteus NP1000 generator was transported by barge down the river at the beginning of June from the Wear Dock and Engineering works in Sunderland. When installed and anchored to the river bed using two giant steel piles, it will be the first ever full-scale tidal stream generator operating in the north east, set to generate at least 1000 MW/h every year.

The Humber’s powerful current will spin the turbine’s vertical axis, via a gearbox and into the main body of the generator itself. Engineers believe it will be able to supply around half of the Deep’s energy requirements.

If successful, plans are afoot to add ten more generators to the array, creating a fully sustainable power plant in the region.

Neptune Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL) chairman Nigel Petrie told the Yorkshire Post: “We see tidal streams as a largely untapped resource where there is a tremendous opportunity for future growth using the latest technology like the Proteus.”

“A major advantage of tidal stream power is the delivery of a predictable source of renewable energy compared to more variable, less consistent, options such as wind – something which is a key consideration when it comes to building up generating capacity.”

Tech wizards at Brother Industries have developed a range of tiny kinetic-powered generators that are just the right size to replace traditional AA and AAA batteries.

The vibration-powered generators – officially described by Brother as “Vibration-powered Generating Batteries” – are meant to be installed in small hand-held devices such as TV or stereo remote controls. Once fitted, the user will then be able to charge up and use the device simply by picking it up and shaking it.

In a statement, Brother Industries said that “the new generator will semi-permanently eliminate the need to replace batteries and contribute to reducing the amount of waste.”

To ensure that the new generator can be used as widely as possible, the company has designed them to fit the shape of the ubiquitous AA and AAA batteries. The machines are therefore able to completely replace batteries, according to Brother.

Offering more specific details, it went on to say that the generators can be used for any battery-powered electrical devices that do not always consumer power and use about 100megaWatts when they do. The standard remote control currently consumes around 40 to 100megaWatts when in use.

The Brother Industries Vibration-powered Generating Battery is currently in the prototype stage, in AA and AAA sizes. Inside the casing can be found an electromagnetic induction generator and an electric double layer capacitor with a capacitance of about 500mF. On average, the generator’s output is around 10-180mW, with a frequency of 4-8Hz.

The company plans to officially unveil the new generator at the Techno-Frontier exhibition, which runs in Tokyo from 21-23 July. It will demonstrate the machines in a TV remote control, a remote control for lighting equipment and a standard LED torch.

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