By Krista H. Kuhl

This year’s Offshore Technology Conference wasn’t just about the improvements that the oil and gas industry has seen this past year. At OTC’s alternative energy session, panelists discussed ways to channel energy from different sources, including tidal and wind energy.

Alison Scott, Deputy Minister of the Nova Scotia Department of Energy, gave a presentation on the proposed use of tidal power in Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy. Every tidal cycle of more than 100 billion tons of water comes through the Bay of Fundy. “It is equivalent to more than all the streams and all the rivers in the entire world combined,” Scott said. “It’s pretty significant.”

Tidal energy is based on a lunar source, unlike wave energy which is based on wind. Tidal energy comes from a pinch, the water speeds up as it passes through narrow spaces and power generation from tides is a function of the cube of the velocity. “In other words, if we can make the water flow twice as fast, we get eight times the power,” Scott said.

Alison Scott of the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and David Eppinger from Fluor Corp. livened up OTC’s alternative energy session.

“Research suggests that our bay may be the best place for tidal power generation in all of North America,” Scott said. “We have an estimated 300 megawatts of extractable in-stream tidal energy from two locations on the Bay of Fundy.” Nova Scotia began a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on the bay to look at concerns from ice flows to marine life and the possible adverse affects the tidal technologies in the bay would have on them. Three companies have also been enlisted to install and maintain tidal energy technologies in the bay. “Assuming developers meet their permitting obligations, we will meet our goal of having the first devices in the water in 2009,” said Scott.

David Eppinger, Vice President of Fluor Corporation, gave a presentation on wind power and offshore wind farms. “At the end of 2007, installed wind energy capacity was around 94 gigawatts and over 20 gigawatts of capacity were installed in 2007 alone,” Eppinger said. “Germany has the largest installed base of wind energy power at 23 gigawatts, but right behind Germany are the US and Spain with about 15 gigawatts apiece.” According to the Global Wind Energy Council, wind power is forecasted to grow to about 240 gigawatts over the next five years. Today, wind energy generates about 1% of global energy production and is forecasted to grow to about 3% in five years, with most growth happening in the US and China.

A study is currently being done by the US Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the American Wind Energy Association. The study looks at how much power can be derived in the US from wind energy. “They believe that by 2030, about 20% of US energy can be produced from clean power,” said Eppinger.

Wind power is generated both onshore and offshore, with most offshore projects in Europe. The first offshore wind project was installed in Denmark in 1991, and today there are over 20 offshore wind farms installed and operating in Europe. “Over the next five years, 5 gigawatts of new offshore wind power will be installed in Europe,” Eppinger said.

New technology and projects in both the tidal and wind energy markets work to complement the world’s current use of oil and gas for energy. Though the alternatives represent a small percentage of the world’s energy generation, they are continually growing in use.