{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='World\u0026#39;s first commercial current tidal power generator' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c366d8eafeecae160fb2' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c366d8eafeecae160fb2' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nWorld\u0026#39;s first commercial current tidal power generator\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eAP Television Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, July 23rd, 20091. Mid shot of SeaGen 2. Mid moving shot of SeaGen 3. Mid shot of people working on SeaGen4. Close shot of people working on SeaGen5. Wide shot of man fishing on pier6. Mid...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eStrangford Lough, Northern Ireland, July 23rd, 2009\u003cbr/\u003e1. Mid shot of SeaGen \u003cbr/\u003e2. Mid moving shot of SeaGen \u003cbr/\u003e3. Mid shot of people working on SeaGen\u003cbr/\u003e4. Close shot of people working on SeaGen\u003cbr/\u003e5. Wide shot of man fishing on pier\u003cbr/\u003e6. Mid to close shot of man fishing\u003cbr/\u003e7. Wide shot of Michael Doran walking on beach\u003cbr/\u003e8. SOUNDBITE (English), Michael Doran, Director of Action Renewables \u003cbr/\u003e''The turbine that we're looking at here is about one megawatt and that's probably cost about 10 or 12 million pounds  ($16.5 - 20 million US Dollars) to put in. The problem is that that is about three or four times more expensive than other forms of renewable energy. Now that price will come down as it's developed. We've got economies of scale within the industry - but at the moment it's extremely expensive, and this is one of the problems you've always got with early technology development - they're always going to be more expensive and who is going to fund that? It's very difficult for individual companies to take that on board without governmental support.''\u003cbr/\u003e9. Wide shot of Strangford town across from water \u003cbr/\u003e10. Close shot of fast moving water \u003cbr/\u003e11. Wide shot of ship moving sideways\u003cbr/\u003e12. Mid shot of ship\u003cbr/\u003e13. Wide shot of fast moving ship\u003cbr/\u003e14. Wide worm's eye view of Angela Roebotham walking up gangway \u003cbr/\u003e15. SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Roebotham, Engineering Director of Marine Current Turbines (MCT): \u003cbr/\u003e''The big thing about tidal (power) is that yes you can predict it. You can look at the tidal charts, for example, for hundreds - if not thousands of years into the future and you can predict on a certain time on a certain day and month and year ahead how much energy that machine out there will be producing. Unlike the wind turbines - if there is a high pressure area that settles over the United Kingdom the winds stop, the wind turbines stop, and the lights go out.''\u003cbr/\u003e16. Wide shot of Portaferry town \u003cbr/\u003e17. Mid moving shot of birds\u003cbr/\u003e18. Mid shot of aquarium entrance\u003cbr/\u003e19. Close shot of aquarium entrance sign\u003cbr/\u003e20. Mid shot of man taking photo of fish tank\u003cbr/\u003e21. Close shot of fish\u003cbr/\u003e22. Set up shot Helena Challinor\u003cbr/\u003e23. SOUNDBITE (English), Helena Challinor, Manager of Exploris Aquarium, Portaferry, Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland \u003cbr/\u003e''Strangford Lough is Northern Ireland's only marine nature reserve and one of only three nature reserves in the British Isles. It has an enormous diversity of animal and plant life - in fact 75% of Northern Ireland's marine species are found in Strangford Lough.'' \u003cbr/\u003e24. Wide man in a small boat \u003cbr/\u003e25. Mid shot of man in boat\u003cbr/\u003e26. Mid shot of door to marine lab \u003cbr/\u003e27. Close shot of sign over door\u003cbr/\u003e28. Set up shot Graham Savidge\u003cbr/\u003e29. SOUNDBITE (English), Graham Savidge, Head of Queen's University, Belfast (QUB) Marine Laboratory, Strangford Lough:\u003cbr/\u003e''There doesn't really seem to be very much impact so far on the environment. Possibly the only effect has been the slight reduction we think in porpoise acoustic activity - you know porpoises sort of omit acoustic signals for navigation and searching for food and communicating and so on and there seems to be a reduction in that activity. But there doesn't seem to have been a change in the actual population - in the numbers of the porpoises - in the Lough as a whole, so we're fairly happy that it's been a minor effect and indeed it's possible that this coming year the porpoise activity may increase again because it varies from year to year anyway.'' \u003cbr/\u003e30. Wide pan shot from shore to SeaGen\u003cbr/\u003e31. Mid shot of SeaGen\u003cbr/\u003e32. Reverse zoom shot of ship \u003cbr/\u003eRenewable energy is often criticised for being weather dependant. \u003cbr/\u003eBut what could be more reliable than the tides. \u003cbr/\u003eTidal power is the latest buzz word in the renewable energy community.\u003cbr/\u003eSeaGen is the world's first commercial-scale tidal current electricity generator, located in a marine nature reserve on Northern Ireland's east coast. \u003cbr/\u003eWeighing 300 tonnes, with a width of 43 meters from tip to tip, SeaGen is billed as a clean green alternative to climate-destroying fossil fuels. \u003cbr/\u003eHere raised out of the water for repairs, the system harnesses the power of tidal currents to generate electricity. \u003cbr/\u003eSeaGen's twin rotating blades turn at 14 revolutions per minute, generating enough electricity for about 1000 homes. \u003cbr/\u003eLocated in Strangford Lough on Northern Ireland's west coast, and resembling an underwater upturned windmill, it was designed and built by UK firm Marine Current Turbines (MCT) at a cost of about  8.6 million pounds ($14 million).\u003cbr/\u003eWhile SeaGen is not the world's first tidal current generator, it is the first to feed directly into an electricity network.\u003cbr/\u003eInstalled in Strangford Lough in July 2008, it has already produced 300 mega watts of power. \u003cbr/\u003eBecause it is a new technology, tidal power is currently more expensive than other forms of renewable energy such as wind power. \u003cbr/\u003eMichael Doran is the Director of Action Renewables which is researching renewable energy sources throughout Ireland and the UK.\u003cbr/\u003e''The turbine that we're looking at here is about one megawatt and that's probably cost about 10 or 12 million pounds ($16.5 - 20 million US Dollars) to put in,\" he says.\u003cbr/\u003e\"The problem is that that is about three or four times more expensive than other forms of renewable energy. Now that price will come down as it's developed. We've got economies of scale within the industry - but at the moment it's extremely expensive, and this is one of the problems you've always got with early technology development - they're always going to be more expensive and who is going to fund that? It's very difficult for individual companies to take that on board without governmental support.''\u003cbr/\u003eTidal power is only suitable in areas with strong tidal flows. \u003cbr/\u003eStrangford Lough was chosen to host SeaGen because it is sheltered from the storms that can batter the open seas and has particularly aggressive tidal currents. \u003cbr/\u003eFour times a day, the tide is forced in and out of the Lough's (loch's) narrow entrance at an average speed of about 4 meters per second (13.123 feet).\u003cbr/\u003eSeaGen's license currently only allows the generator to operate in daylight hours.\u003cbr/\u003eThe tides in the narrows are so strong that boats are forced to travel sideways with the current. \u003cbr/\u003eMarine Current Turbines' Engineering Director Angela Roebotham was responsible for the design and development of SeaGen. She says tidal power is more reliable than wind energy. \u003cbr/\u003e''The big thing about tidal (power) is that yes you can predict it. You can look at the tidal charts, for example, for hundreds - if not thousands of years into the future and you can predict on a certain time on a certain day and month and year ahead how much energy that machine out there will be producing. Unlike the wind turbines - if there is a high pressure area that settles over the United Kingdom the winds stop, the wind turbines stop, and the lights go out,'' she says. \u003cbr/\u003eStrangford Lough is an area rich in marine wildlife with more than 2000 species of plant and animal species living in and around the Lough.\u003cbr/\u003eThe Exploris aquarium at Strangford Lough has recreated the underwater world found in the Lough.\u003cbr/\u003eHelena Challinor is the Manager Director of Exploris. \u003cbr/\u003e''Strangford Lough is Northern Ireland's only marine nature reserve and one of only three nature reserves in the British Isles. It has an enormous diversity of animal and plant life - in fact 75% of Northern Ireland's marine species are found in Strangford Lough,'' she explains.  \u003cbr/\u003eAs an official marine nature reserve, Strangford Lough is protected by European Union environmental protection laws.\u003cbr/\u003eBecause SeaGen is a new technology, there were concerns that it could harm the area's fragile ecosystem.\u003cbr/\u003eQueens University in Belfast has conducted a major study on the effects of the tidal generator on the Lough's wildlife.\u003cbr/\u003eGraham Savidge, head of the university's marine laboratory says he's pleased with the results.  \u003cbr/\u003e''There doesn't really seem to be very much impact so far on the environment. Possibly the only effect has been the slight reduction we think in porpoise acoustic activity - you know porpoises sort of omit acoustic signals for navigation and searching for food and communicating and so on and there seems to be a reduction in that activity. But there doesn't seem to have been a change in the actual population - in the numbers of the porpoises - in the Lough as a whole, so we're fairly happy that it's been a minor effect and indeed it's possible that this coming year the porpoise activity may increase again because it varies from year to year anyway,'' he says.  \u003cbr/\u003eBecause SeaGen has had little effect on the Lough's wildlife there are hopes that the technology can be deployed in other ecologically sensitive areas around the world.\u003cbr/\u003eMCT is next planning to build a farm of turbines off Anglesey, Wales by 2011.\u003cbr/\u003eThe are two main types of tidal power, systems that harness the power of the current like SeaGen and systems which use the kinetic energy of the rise and fall of water at high and low tide.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' 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