Tide Turning for Cameroon & Wind All at Sea for UK

Cameroon is considering harnessing power from its ocean currents to help fill its chronic electricity gap. The government of the central African state bordering the Atlantic has hired MRS Power Cameroon to conduct a tidal power feasibility study. Meanwhile, the world’s largest offshore wind farm has opened off the south coast of England, with 100 turbines able to produce enough energy a year to power the equivalent of more than 200,000 homes.

AP reports (23 September 2010):

The world’s largest offshore wind farm has opened off the south coast of England.

Officials of energy company Vattenfall say the Thanet offshore wind farm has 100 turbines and will produce enough energy a year to power the equivalent of more than 200,000 homes.

The UK’s onshore and offshore wind turbines now produce enough energy to power all the homes in Scotland.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne says the British government is committed to producing more renewable energy.

Pressure group Friends of the Earth, meanwhile, wants the government to guarantee funding of at least STG2 billion ($A3.2 billion) a year for the Green Investment Bank.

The bank aims to boost private-sector spending on low-carbon technology.

Source: www.news.theage.com.au

Reuters report  (27 September 2010):

Cameroon is considering harnessing power from its ocean currents to help fill its chronic electricity gap.

The government of the central African state bordering the Atlantic has hired MRS Power Cameroon, a subsidiary of MRS Holding Ltd, to conduct a tidal power feasibility study, the government-owned Cameroon Tribune reported on Monday.

“This project comes at a time Cameroon is suffering a huge power deficit due to a sharp increase in demand and so it will be a wonderful alternative for power generation on a large scale in the country,” Fitzgerald Nassako, permanent secretary at the energy ministry was quoted as saying.

Cameroon relies heavily on hydroelectric power but has faced severe power shortfalls in recent years that forced its Rio Tinto joint-venture, Alucam, to slash production rates from an aluminum smelter and is believed to be holding up broader investment.

The government has set an ambitious target of tripling power generation capacity by 2020 with a slew of mostly hydropower projects, in part to pave the way for a handful of planned energy-intensive mining projects.

Terms of the agreement, and the potential power generation capacity from the project, were not immediately available.

Source: www.reuters.com