Alderney’s tidal resource
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| The Channel |
The territorial waters around Alderney contain one of the world’s largest tidal energy resources, estimated by independent consultants as capable of generating up to 3,000 MW – sufficient electricity to power at least 1 million homes.
The majority of this electricity will be exported, as Alderney’s peak electricity demand is only 1.5 MW. There are currently no power cables to or from Alderney, but ARE holds the right to export power to both the UK and France and has developed advanced plans for cable connections to both these countries. ARE acquired 285 MW capacity into the French Grid in November 2008 and in 2010 acquired 2,000 MW capacity into the UK grid.
Alderney’s tidal resource could potentially become a major contributor in assisting the UK and France to achieve their stated 2020 renewable energy targets of 15% and 23% respectively.
As part of the development of the Alderney Project, ARE is managing a detailed survey programme to fully understand the nature of possible site environments and the tidal resource within them.
Details of some combined Hydrographical, Geophysical and Oceanographic surveys can be viewed via the survey link.