Belco ocean power scheme attracts wave of support (Bermuda)

[jpak]

http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060216/NEWS/102160130

Support has come flooding in for innovative plans to sink an underwater power generator in the sea off Bermuda.

Belco unveiled the pioneering green scheme on Monday – and revealed how it would capture ocean currents to initially provide nearly ten per cent of the Island's electricity needs. The energy giant has struck a 20-year deal with US company Current to Current that could see a generator almost the size of a football pitch used for the first time in the world in south shore waters.

The idea to use mother nature to help power the Island today received the backing of marine and conservation experts.

Dr. Tony Knap, president and director of the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, called the proposal "an innovative idea". He said deep ocean currents in Bermuda never stopped running, making the sea-based source of power more efficient than large wind turbines.

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[phantom power]

1. One aspect of ocean-based power I'm curious about...

is the effects of maintenance on power cost. The marine environment is pretty hostile to man made artifacts. It corrodes metals, and various life forms tend to grow on almost every surface, and gum things up.