Siemens has blamed the slow development of the tidal energy market for its decision to sell Bristol based-Marine Current Turbines, a UK development company in the forefront of marine conversion technology that it took over in 2012. It is currently looking for a buyer.
Siemens Hydro and Ocean unit employs 45 people, but Siemens said a strategic review had determined the business should now be sold. "A dedicated tidal power industry of critical size will develop in the near future," Siemens said in a statement. "But due to the limited resources it would be a niche market for Siemens."
Tidal power is seen as a promising clean energy technology, as tidal flow is very predictable. The worldwide potential for power generated by tidal power plants is estimated at 800 TWh annually, about 3.5% of global power consumption.
However, Marine Current Turbines (MCT) has faced a number of development problems recently, notably when Siemens suspended work on a 10 MW tidal array off the coast of North Wales that would have featured MCT's SeaGen unit, and the UK government had cancelled a prospective £10m grant because MCT had failed to find another source of funding to fit with the government's 2016 deadline.
-The development is a second serious blow to the UK's marine energy industry in the last few weeks, following the announcement on 24 November that wave power developer Pelamis, owner of the well known 'Sea Snake' technology, had been forced into administration after failing to secure funding for its future development programme.
In 2010 Pelamis was awarded a lease by the Crown Estate for a tract of seabed off Farr Point, Scotland. It had then intended to develop the first phase - capable of producing up to 15 MWe - during 2015, and planned later phases involving a further 35 MWe by 2020.
It has been working with the Environmental Research Institute in Thurso to carry out environmental monitoring of its test machines deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) off Orkney.
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