The Sky’s the limit – or is it?
Stuart Murphy, founder and inventor of TPGen24, took time out recently to
TPGen24 is a UK-based tidal range renewables developer. With the overarching aim of achieving 100% carbon neutral green base load electricity, we have designed a near-shore power island capable of generating massive amounts of clean energy solely from the rise and fall of the tide.
In an era of global energy shortages and climate catastrophe, TPGen24 has the potential to transform our energy mix, phasing out fossil fuels and preserving the environment whilst delivering enough electricity to meet rocketing demand.
TPGen24 the power to change the world.
Since the industrial revolution, the last 200 years have seen society advance at a rapid rate, however this has come at the expense of our natural environment.
Resources have been exploited and exhausted and we’re running out of time to mitigate and, eventually reverse climate change.
Whilst we’ve made massive strides over the last few decades, our renewables infrastructure remains inadequate to meet the evolving requirements of contemporary society.
The UK Government strategy is skewed, favouring wind and solar. Whilst these are important parts of the energy mix, they’re intermittency means they’re unable to replace the current role of oil and gas to deliver base load.
Base load is the minimum amount of electricity required for society to operate at any one time, so it means fossil fuels continue to prop up the grid if the atmospheric conditions are not just-so for wind and solar generation.
Nuclear, which the Government has recently committed to, is expensive and the amount needed to replace oil and gas is insurmountable. Furthermore, there’s nothing sustainable about a finite resource which produces hazardous waste.
However, tidal – particularly tidal range – which operates according to the rise and fall of our coastal water, can provide the answer. A reliable, consistent and perpetual resource,it’s remained woefully untapped for generations… until now.
An industry-first, TPGen24 is set to bring tidal range energy to greater prominence – and through our patented technology, inspire confidence in policy makers, the business community and the public alike, through its ability to generate green base load 24/7, 365 days a year. All from the waters which surround the UK, and here’s how…
Invented by renewable energy entrepreneur, Stuart Murphy, TPGen24’s Power Island is a refreshing simple system, using tried and tested principles and approaches in a unique formation.
A TPGen24 plant comprises a sequenced network of turbine-loaded lagoons and tanks. Deployed within a high tidal range, spanning an area of 15×7.5km (110km), the plant draws in and expels water in line with the natural rise and fall of coastal waters, in turn turning the turbines to produce energy.
What sets TPGen24’s technology apart is its ability to control the intake and outflow of water, independent of the natural tidal cycle, using a series of programmable sluice gates. It’s this ability to control the fill and empty rate which enables the system to generate energy 24/7, 365 days a year, according to demand.
The below animation helps to demonstrate how the system works:
As can be seen in the video, the core of the TPGen24 plant is further supported, and enhanced, by a series of reserve lagoons. These can store even more water to be released during peak demand.
A wide, frontal lagoon provides essential protection to the central system, but can also help generate more power through the dissipation of large swells when complemented with a pontoon network within.
TPGen24’s structure, made from steel-reinforced concrete, is low maintenance and will last for centuries, not decades. It’s a long-term proposition which will deliver a massive return on investment.
Each Power Island has the ability to sustainably generate a massive amount of electricity over a 24 hour cycle, with calculations currently being made to place a definitive value. The last set of data indicated outputs significantly outstripping high-yield nuclear facilities.
It’s a game-changer, with the ability to move away from fossil fuels for good and realise a green, carbon neutral society sooner.
Furthermore, its ability to hold and store water within the structure, independent of the tidal cycle means it’s authentically able to realise water’s ancient role as ‘Nature’s Battery’.
TPGen24’s structure means that it can be simply augmented with other renewables, creating a blended plant which can take as much advantage as possible of any location in which it is situated.
The diagram below offers a cross-section snapshot of how a plant in Liverpool Bay might be enhanced with wind and solar energy, making every inch of valuable marine real estate work as hard as possible.
This includes:
1 Offshore Power Islands that can manipulate the tidal ranges 24/7 and produce a base load of energy
2 Empty oil and gas well to store CO2 in line with the Government’s Carbon Capture Programme
3 Building the Power Island around the huge existing windfarms already secured on the sea floor
4 Tidal stream turbines tethered to the plant band walls, delivering the first holistic tidal system
5 Floating solar PVwhich can be installed within the Power Island
The above diagram shows the immediate advantage of offshore, over onshore, systems. For example, on land you rarely see solar and wind placed on the same piece of land. Similar to other fossil and low carbon alternatives, they always occupy a sole site which cannot be used for anything else.
Offshore is a very different story, as the same km2 can be used more than once. In fact up to 5 times more than any land based renewable energy location.
The UK, more than any other nation in the world stands to benefit from tidal range energy.
With the largest concentration of some of the highest ranges on the planet, there are more potential sites around the British Isles than any other country.
The Welsh Coast and the North West Coast in particular, stretching from the Channel Islands and the Severn Estuary in the South, then curving up from Anglesey right the way up to Barrow-in-Furness possess the optimum conditions for tidal energy generation.
The below map shows where sites could be deployed:
And that’s only the start. There are plenty of other potential locations globally, waiting to be harnessed, which presents the possibility of plentiful renewable energy for all.
TPGen24’s benefits go wider and further than green energy generation.
In the UK, the construction of TPGen24 ‘Power Islands’ along Wales and the West Coast of England and Wales could drive investment into struggling coastal communities. It will mean more jobs, greater opportunity, and economic revival in some of this country’s poorest districts.
Not only could it offer much-needed local employment and urban renewal, but establish the British Isles as a leading expert in tidal energy – a lucrative services export opportunity.
Globally, TPGen24 could also help support the environment and emerging CleanTech. The possibilities are many, including:
Supporting marine conservation: Creating new natural environments and ecosystems, encouraging biodiversity through the establishment of new reefs.
The Hydrogen Revolution: Delivering the energy required to produce this game-changing green fuel.
Big Data Centres: Enabling greater digital adoption, powering and cooling the essential infrastructure to make this possible.
Smart Homes: Supporting modern life through powering technology which will make our lives easier and happier.
CFD Modelling has proven a TPGen24 Power Island has the capability of generating base load 24/7, 365 days a year, when located within the world’s best tidal ranges.
These figures are currently being optimised by a leading UK-based energy engineering specialist, an important step on the route to turning the digital into the physical.
This has already caught the interest of potential investors, keen to get a head start on a rising wave of activity in the tidal energy sector.
We are already exploring partnership opportunities with academic institutions and professional bodies, whilst working closely with a team of expert structural, civil, and M&E engineers.
This will bring the project closer to identifying the strike price, CapEx and OpEx costs, as well as informing the essential feasibility study and environmental impact assessment which will need to be undertaken.
The greatest challenge will be to overturn long-held, and sometimes erroneous or exaggerated consent-based issues. It will mean working closely with policymakers, associations and interest groups to get to the heart of the matter and prove, once and for all, that a system like TPGen24 will enhance, rather than detractfrom society and the natural environment.
We are always on the lookout for new interested parties, potential partners and investors, across UK business and industry.
Interest in tidal is starting to gather momentum nationwide, with increasingly more political capital given to discussing it, column inches printed on the topic, and more research funds becoming available.
Why not join us on this exciting journey, and be part of a project which promises to deliver baseline green electricity 24/7 in perpetuity? To arrange a meeting with the TPGen24 team to find out more click here.
Stuart Murphy, founder and inventor of TPGen24, took time out recently to
TPGen24’s founder, Stuart Murphy took to the airwaves this morning, discussing his
In Utility Week’s insightful article about hydrogen capture, Stuart puts forward his
To find out more about how you can get involved in TPGen24, please get in touch with the team, who will be delighted to go into further detail about the system:
