The first electricity generated by tidal power in shallow waters is now coming ashore on the banks of the Humber. The test system shows that predictable energy can be produced close to shore, where it is needed, reducing massively the investment required to install, connect and maintain devices compared to those in remote locations.

Pulse, IT Power, Sennergy Econnect and Humber Work Boats engineers having been working hard over the first half of this year to commision and optimise the operation of the machine, running and analysing numerous tests in a wide variety of conditions.

Commissioning of the PS100 is the culmination of 10 years development by inventor Marc Paish, Pulse’s chief technology officer. He says: “The teamwork between IT Power, Humber Work Boats, Corus and Senergy Econnect has enabled us to prove that low cost, reliable, clean energy can be produced from waters close to shore.”

Pulse Inventor and technical director leaving the device after a day of commissioning work.

The 100kW Humber prototype system uses tidal streams to oscillate horizontal blades rather than extracting energy in the same way as a wind turbine through rotary blades. This mode of operation is the key to the device’s unique access to shallow water and has so far shown that it can harness enough energy to power 70 homes.

The device is connected to the national grid through nearby industrial process plant Millennium Inorganic Chemicals and Ethernet connected through neighbouring resin manufacturing company Cray Valley. The wireless Ethernet link means that the device can be operated and monitored remotely via the internet, ensuring that as much information as possible can be gathered from this prototype and fed into the design of the next generation of devices.

Jamie O'Nians of IT Power, who is project director of the PS100, agrees: “This is a defining moment for Pulse Tidal. The success of this project differentiates it from other technologies and places it in a unique and exciting position of generating predictable power from a well understood resource close to the end user. The benefits of shallow water tidal resources are clear and there is now the technology to exploit it.”

Howard Nimmo, commercial director, adds: “We have been supported by a number of investors, including IT Power, Marubeni Europe plc, LIFE-IC and The Viking Fund, as well as by Government grants. Generating power in the Humber is a significant milestone for the company that has enabled us to raise additional finance from our current partners.”

IT Power is already assisting Pulse in its development and engineering of a much larger device that will deliver highly competitive commercial power from tidal streams.

Anthony Derrick joint Managing Director of IT Power : "The success of the PS100 is another milestone in the pioneering work of IT Power that spans some 15 years in assessing, championing and harnessing energy from tidal streams and also from waves.  Congratulations to the whole PS100 project team and especially to Jamie O'Nians the Project Director and Marc Paish the inventor of the design at Pulse Tidal."