Green power flows along the River Arun

An engineer living in the area wants to use the Arun, one of the country’s fastest-flowing rivers, to test his invention.

Littlehampton Harbour Board agreed on Monday (December, 13) to allow the prototype device to be set up in the river for trials for up to nine months, with initial tests over the next few weeks beneath pontoon moorings for an hour at a time, followed by a more permanent installation further upstream.

Tidal turbine generation is thought to have more potential for future “green” electricity production than wind power, because the constant flow is more reliable.

Harbour manager Anne Carnegie told board members: “It’s a really interesting operation. It’s very exciting.”

The unit, measuring 3m by 0.6m by 0.3m, weighs 40kg and can be used in any shallow area of tidal flow, fixed to structures such as a pontoon, beneath a bridge or suspended just below the surface by a float system.

Its estimated output on a four knot spring tide is 2,628 kwatts a year.

Mrs Carnegie said the engineer, who has asked not to be named, had worked with the Environment Agency to make sure the device would be “fish friendly” and benign to the environment.

Care would also be taken that there was no risk of ropes or wires snagging on it and the installation would be covered by public liability insurance.

Board members welcomed the tests. Tony Squires described the tidal generator as “absolutely brilliant”, adding: “We have one of the fastest-flowing rivers in the country here and we ought to be using it for the benefit of all.”

Dr James Walsh was also in favour, but asked whether there were other designs the board ought to be looking at, too, to try out, to see which was best suited to the Arun.

Mrs Carnegie said there had been no other approaches at this stage.

She added that there was a possibility to link the development of the generator with the improvements to the flood defences on the east bank of the river, providing renewable energy for lighting.

The board voted unanimously to allow the trials to go ahead, subject to full risk assessments being carried out, and the presence of marker buoys showing the turbine’s position.