Abstract
The Raz Blanchard, otherwise known as the Alderney Race, is a stretch of water between the Island of Alderney and the French mainland. It has a long-standing reputation as a location of significant tidal energy potential and has been the focus of numerous academic studies.
There is a significant commercial demand for establishing tidal stream farms in the area. As a part of the Tidal Stream Industry Energiser (TIGER) Project, two enterprises, namely Normandie Hydroliennes and HydroQuest, are developing tidal arrays at different sites in Raz Blanchard. The primary objective is to install multi-megawatt commercial arrays at both locations, which will serve as a starting point for building more extensive farms generating hundreds of megawatts in the future.
This work is being supported by the TIGER Project, a €48.4m Interreg-funded project assisting developments at six sites in the Channel region between the UK and France.
This report aims to assess the potential of the Raz Blanchard region for a commercial TSE array. This report describes the site characteristics and quantifies the deployment potential across the Raz Blanchard region. The report targets prospective project developers, investors, policymakers and suppliers who would benefit from an updated holistic and thirdparty evaluation. Our study consists of the following aspects:
A Literature review: including descriptions of the site's history, the main stakeholders, regional support and schemes and the flow conditions.
A Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis: to assess the size of the commercial farm that could be built, identify potential impacts on other sea users and show the potential barriers and geographical aspects that must be considered.
A techno-economic analysis: to estimate the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) that a representative farm at the site could achieve and the CfD strike price that would be required to encourage project development and private investment. We considered optimistic and pessimistic industry cases and applied learning rates to gain insight into the trajectory of LCOE and appropriate CfD strike prices over time.