Talking Climate Tech 025 redux
Tidal Energy Startups, Peaking Oil, Empire Strikes Back, Crypto + Golf, and Pylon of the Month!
๐ Tidal Energy Startups | โซ Peaking Oil? | โฉ๏ธ Trump v Logic | โกTower Culture
Issued to subscribers 23rd May 2025.
Plenty going on this week, not least of all the big Climate Tech Impact_South launch event 01! ๐
Which will have happened last night, Thursday, as I write this to you the night before, Wednesday. So I can't tell you anything about what happened ๐
๐ธ Startup News
Last week it was Wave, and this week I said it would be Tidal, so here we go.
A recap on Tidal - we are further ahead than Wave - more MW in the water, it's part of the ringfenced CfD in the UK, whereas Wave hasn't been so fortunate to get the helping hand. To date, from Ocean Energy Europe:
32MW deployed in Europe since 2010, 12.7MW currently generating, 19.3MW decommissioned at the end of the project life.
Most technologies have had significant multi-year test programmes, therefore, new deployments have been small through 2024 and have mainly featured prototypes and a new kite design from Minesto, a 1.2MW single device.
Focus is now on the next iteration of deployment towards commercialisation, larger tidal farm arrays, which is reflected in the cumulative deployments and pipeline through to 2030.
Tidal Stream deployment beyond Europe is also limited in 2024. UK company, Proteus Marine entered the water in Q1 in Japan. In the US, two tidal stream projects were awarded $35m funding for multi-MW projects...not sure how they will be fairing now. ๐ค
Back in the UK, AR6 in 2024 delivered 6 projects on 5 sites, for an additional 28MW of capacity at ยฃ172MWh. This should give the UK 130MW deployed by 2029. More here.
The potential and promoise is there, a 2022 study by ORE and Imperial College London modelled future energy scenarios with Tidal Stream:
Tidal energy has the potential to provide 11.5 GW to the UK energy system, 11% of the UKโs electricity demand, and tidal stream projects could contribute up to ยฃ17 billion to the UK economy by 2050...
More on the ORE / ICL modelling paper here, which for the 2050 energy system scenario, Tidal could displace up to 40% of UK CCGT from 8.1GW to 4.9GW based on < ยฃ50MWh.
More on the Tidal Stream Technology Roadmap report from ORE here.
In the meantime, more new startups in Tidal are coming out of stealth, the UK has recently seen:
๐ Spiralis Energy - Axial Skelter device [for Tidal and River], which is scalable, containerised, 3D printed in a week and fish friendly.
๐ฌ Porpoise Power - Oxford Uni. spin-out with a whale-tail type kite device suited to globally abundant, medium 3-5 knots streams.
Who are the old salty-sea dogs that are leading the pack to commercialisation...
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Orbital Marine
Probably the most recognisable and established Tidal Stream device and brand, you can even have a play and explore the O2-X interactive model here.
The 02 is a 2MW device available in multi-array deployment. They've been running up in Orkney for the last 15 years and connected exporting to the UK grid since 2021. That single O2 offsets around 2,000 tonnes CO2 and powers an estimated 1,700 homes.
What's Happeningโ
They are exploring MAXBlade development on the O2 to extend blades from 10m to 13m. The ยฃ10m UKRI/WU funded project with the University of Edinburgh focus:
full lifecycle of tidal turbine blades, from materials, manufacture and operation, to decommissioning and recyclability.
Up in Orkney, in and around EMEC, where they have done the majority of their testing, they have a new provision to extend deployment to 30MW / 12 turbines.
They picked up 7.2 MW each in AR4 and AR5.
Over in Canada, they are due to launch an O2 in the Bay of Fundy to start a programme there. There was also an MOU in 2024 for an R&D and demonstrator project in Washington State, Rosario Strait in the San Juan Islands.
There are also project development sites in the UK at Anglesey and the Isle of Wight. Looks like they are also developing a scaled-down version for use in rivers.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Proteus Marine
Proteus Marine AR1100/1.1MW builds on from their AR500/500kW device. A horizontal-axis rotor with three composite blades - angles are independently controlled by electromechanical pitch systems for real-time control of energy capture while minimising hydrodynamic loads.
What's Happeningโ
They have just deployed in Q1 2025 an AR1100 / 1.1MW in Japan, following on from an AR500 pilot, and will move to larger multi-deployments. Japan is a prime market, they have major sovereign energy resources and decarbonisation challenges.
In Scotland at MeyGen, the Phase 1 - 6MW deployment since 2018 is now moving to Phase 2 - 59MW additional by 2028, with up to 398MW total lease capacity for future development.
๐ซ๐ท HydroQuest
A different approach from France, with a rotating blade design HQ2.5/2.5MW, that's seabed moored.
What's Happeningโ
They are also primed to deploy in Raz Blanchard [check the tide ripping on the video here] with a 17.5MW project that combines x7 rotating blade devices into the single 12MW HVDC cable, a first for the sector.
๐ Deeper Dive
Peak Oil? ๐
Analysis from Rob West of Thunder Says Energy, shows it's certainly, almost, at the tipping point, possibly very soon!
He's a great analyst and a go-to for big investors, follow with interest.
oil demand gently increasing from c100Mbpd in 2022 towards a plateau of 105Mbpd in 2027-29. This peak for global oil demand is followed by a gradual decline to 85Mbpd in 2050. This can be consistent with the decarbonisation of the global energy system
A Big Number ๐
Like the look and feel of us heading towards peak oil? You'll also like this piece of good news, which follows on from last week's 'China Emissions Falling' news.
That's 13 billion tonnes CO2 avoided ๐คฏ
Trump Watch ๐ฅ
Checking back in Stateside this week, what's 'he who shall not be named' been up to?
He has accepted the Qatar airplane 'grift gift' formally now, but other than personal fortune, it's not all quite as simple as a quick marker pen signature on an Executive Order, would make you think...๐ค
Empire Strikes Back ๐ช
He simply didn't have the cards ๐คฃ
Oh how sweet is the irony, especially as they had more money in this card game, which we know is all he cares about...
The Equinor 2GW Empire Wind offshore project near NY, got an EO stop work order when 30% complete for Phase 1. It's a $5bn project, with huge impact for local jobs and supply chain, so it seemed rather foolhardy to stop, beyond the obvious benefit of decarbonising NY's grid.
Reuters seems to suggest a new gas pipeline could have been the compromise, but that still has a long way to go to be realised. Or it could have been the fact that Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund has approx. $850bn / 50% of its total fund, invested in the US and isn't very happy, so put the squeeze on?
I think they had all the cards. โ ๏ธ
Colour me Stupid ๐ด ๐ต
More likely economic headwind for Don. This analysis shows the benefit of clean energy investments across the US States, via Cleanview.
Expect some pushback from the good people and businesses of Republican States when they realise he has cut funding and investment into jobs, supply chains, manufacturing and clean power. ๐ฌ
GM Battles On Regardless ๐
A bastion of the US automotive sector, GM is pushing on with electrification and ignoring Don - exploring its new lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells for EVs beginning in 2028. More here.
Crypto Grift ๐ฐ
You thought I forgot all the juicy stuff...of course not!
Here is more on his invitation dinner for the Top 220 crypto investors, and personal VIP for Top 25, in his $TRUMP coin. Ethics be damned, its 'pay-to-play' time, estimated cost to vested interests scrabbling for the kings ear, $148m.
Since the dinner announcement, over 20 million TRUMP tokens โ worth roughly $280m โ have flowed into wallets, with $109m exiting.
And here is another $300m that should keep the wolf from the door, as this dubious Chinese entity pays up, while Trump muses over the TikTok ban in the US. More here.
I mean, come on! ๐คทโโ๏ธ ๐คฏ
Trump Golf Watch โณ
Will also be bringing you interesting news from the golf course, beyond the cheating. As of this week:
๐ก Konfab News
EP2 Podcast is Live ๐๏ธ
Rolling through on these now ๐
You might have caught some short clips on LinkedIn this week, here is the full episode with Oliver Mudge:
Kane Watkinson
๐ Good Stuff
Pylon of the Month โก
To all those doubters, never let it be said that this newsletter is not culturally informed, serious peice of highbrow reading. ๐
Your Tower of Power from Pylon of the Month this week, is a creative piece;
La Route des Alpes, is by Tristram Hiller and was painted in 1937 when he was staying near Vence, a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Cรดte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes.
I started to paint landscape again, not in my earlier manner en plein air, but attempting to construct my pictures from rough drawings which I would elaborate in the studio, in the style of the Flemish and Italian masters whose work I had recently had so much opportunity of studying. This was the beginning of my ultimate phase in painting, and became the manner in which I have worked ever since.
There you go, culture โ
Thanks as always, let's keep pushing forward - remember, the momentum is unstoppable despite everything you might see and hear! ๐
Stay warm, cool, dry, wet and safe wherever you are ๐
Kane
Talking Climate Tech is free to its subscribers, but it does take a lot of time, energy and a fair bit of coffee to make it happen! ๐ฅบ
If you would like to support me, I could always use an extra cup... โ โฌ๏ธ
