£390k for tidal EIA
The Carbon Trust has awarded £390,000 of funding to a renewable energy firm building the first full-scale tidal array off the Welsh coast, to help monitor its impact on the local marine environment.
Tidal Energy’s DeltaStream device is due to be installed near to the Pembrokeshire city of St David’s next year, after receiving planning permission and funding from the Welsh Assembly government in July.
The 1.2MW array will sit on the seabed and is expected to generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes each year.
The Carbon Trust grant will provide up to 60% of the cash needed to ensure a comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) is carried out during the array’s 12-month demonstration period.
The EIA findings will then be shared with the rest of the marine energy sector to help the development of similar projects.