About ARE
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| An ariel view of Alderney |
Alderney Renewable Energy (ARE) was founded in 2004. In November 2008 the company was granted an exclusive 65 year licence to generate electricity from the tidal flows around Alderney.
The licence, granted by The States of Alderney and Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy, provides ARE with access to 50% of the island’s territorial waters (3 nautical miles from the coast). The tidal resource in this area is estimated to be capable of generating sufficient electricity for at least 1 million homes.
ARE will partner with leading utility and infrastructure companies to build, own and operate tidal farms in the region.
Mission Statement
Alderney Renewable Energy aims to ensure Alderney’s energy-producing marine resources are harvested effectively and safely in a manner that benefits Alderney, is economically viable, is sensitive to the local environment and contributes to the world requirement for clean energy.
Vision Statement
Alderney Renewable Energy will be a major provider of Marine Renewable Energy, working in conjunction with major utility companies exporting clean, green power to assist Europe in meeting its renewable energy targets.
HSSE Policy Statement
ARE in the conduct of its activities will ensure that it:
Protects the health, safety, security and welfare of its employees and others who may be affected by its activities, limits adverse effects on and adjacent to the area in which those activities are carried out and meets its responsibilities, as an employer to do all that is reasonably practicable to prevent accidents, injuries and damage to health; and adverse effects upon the environment. Click here to see the HSSE document.
The Company
Alderney Renewable Energy Ltd (ARE) is an Alderney registered company formed by a consortium of business people who either live on, or have strong connections to the island.
The founders recognised that Alderney has an excellent natural resource and were aware that tidal power technology was progressing close to commercial reality. It was felt that in order for Alderney to be able to benefit from tidal power in the long term, it should actively engage with the industry during its early stages of development.
The States of Alderney were approached with some initial proposals in 2004. They formed a Tidal Panel chaired by the Island’s President to consider these proposals and alternatives. A public meeting was held in November 2004, and following positive recommendations back to the States by the Panel an agreement with ARE was negotiated during 2005.
ARE signed a legal agreement with the States of Alderney in December 2005. This gave it 5-year exclusivity. Subject to targets being met, it then has commercial rights for a minimum of 50 years. The States of Alderney has created ACRE (Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy) to regulate ARE and to create the necessary legislation to enable the project to progress. A full consents process is in place.
In 2008 the States of Alderney granted ARE an exclusive 65 year licence, which is extendable, to commercially develop tidal, and wave power, in 50% of Alderney’s territorial waters.
The project
Overview
Alderney’s waters have been widely recognised by academia and the renewable energy industry as being extremely suitable for the harnessing of Tidal Power, more so than other Channel Islands and almost all of the UK.
A leading Tidal Power equipment developer has estimated that Alderney’s waters are capable of harvesting 1000MW of power. Other industry and academic estimates for Alderney’s waters are higher at up to 3000MW.
The predictability of tides, the low environmental impact, the prospect of competitive production costs and the strong European political desire for alternative energies make the prospects for tidal energy very real and there is awareness amongst the people and politicians of Alderney of the long term potential of harvesting energy from its natural resources.
Alderney is well suited to large-scale tidal farms and has excellent export potential via sub-sea cable to the European or UK grids. Its advantages are:-
• that it is one of Europe’s optimum sites for harnessing tidal power
• it has a supportive community and legislative environment
• a single point of contact (ARE) to act as facilitator.
Measuring the resource
ARE has collected data using acoustic dopplers to measure the speed and direction of the tides every metre through the water column. This data has been processed to create a 3 dimensional model which has been used to accurately calculate the gross power potential.
The wave resource is also being calculated within the territorial sea to the west of Ortac rock to give ARE a gross power figure from Alderney’s wave resource.
Environmental Impact
A key part of the project is understanding the environmental impact of marine power generation.
ARE has commenced Environmental Impact Assessment studies with the collection of essential baseline data through surveying wildlife populations.
Grid Connection
ARE holds rights to export power to both the UK and France, and has developed advanced plans for cable connections to both these countries. ARE secured 285MW of capacity into the French Grid in November 2008 (which it is in the process of increasing). In 2010 ARE secured 2000MW capacity into the UK National Grid.