Dover looks into green tidal energy

The Port of Dover has been looking to develop a small tidal energy array within the harbour to commit to reducing its carbon footprint. It will use the findings from the Pro-Tide conference to aid its feasibility study on the environmental constraints and cost-effectiveness of the possible development.

“The Pro-Tide project has been focussing on getting power from sites that have relatively low flow rates and tidal rangers,” said Vicki Jago, the Port of Dover’s environmental manager.

She added: “The results of the three-year study suggest that project in our location really does have the potential to supply us with green energy.”

Tidal power is an important form of renewable energy because, unlike solar or wind power, it does not rely on specific weather to be effective and is predictable 365 days-a-year.

Nearly 100 experts met to scrutinise the results of tests and analysis for the Pro-Tide project, which was carried out in Dover, the Isle of Wight, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Ben de Reu, of the Executive Council of the Province of Zeeland in the Netherlands, said: “The cooperation with the other Pro-Tide partners has led to new opportunities to share knowledge, to see first-hand innovative developments, to discuss new findings with experts from different countries and to form new alliances.”