World-first as Irish firm supplies tidal energy to grid - Irish, Business - Independent.ie

Here in Ireland we have been blessed by nature in many ways. Most readers will of course be familiar with images of the natural beauty of this country. Indeed, it is the very thing which most people think of when asked. But we also have huge assets we are only now beginning to realise we can harness,situated where we are, out on the western edge of Europe. Here we endure/enjoy -depending on whether we have the right clothes on for the conditions - the full force of the Atlantic rolling in from the west. This gives us lots of wind resources,and we have lots of wind farms, a lot of which were pioneered by Airtricity, a firm I have written about previously. But one resource which was known of and harnessed by the monks of 1500 years ago is only now coming to commercial application. Who knows when Tidal Power was first harnessed? Yet all around the Irish coast are inlets which have the archaeological remains of tidal mills,used for grinding wheat and other cereals. Several technologies are being developed,and which will emerge as the dominant one only time will tell. Several are being tested at serious prototype level, and as an Irishman, I would hope that the winner will be one developed here. However,I suspect that a variety of viable methods will emerge,each suited to a different location. But is great to see that that one technology has now gone live and is feeding power to the grid. I'll return to this and give it the coverage it deserves in a future post. Meantime let's hope for an IPO and for the success of the company. World-first as Irish firm supplies tidal energy to grid - Irish, Business - Independent.ie