Just how much extractable power is available off the Dorset coast, and how close are communities or companies to being able to exploit it ? A quick search seems to show that several are positioning themselves as having the technology, but not yet installed, and perhaps therefore some time away.
I know from sailing around here that the tidal heights are not enormous - the Solent/Isle of Wight and our mid-point in the Channel seems to conspire to create interesting flows, but a Department of Trade and Industry map shows the central section of the English Channel along with the Channel Islands, Anglesey, and a few other hotspots as quite favourite around our coast. So this area is good is for peak flow and power rather than for height variation.
The image is on several websites (I'd copy it here but UK government is attrocious at allowing free use of publicaly funded data by citizens), but the following was interesting to cover the topic.
http://www.greenrhinoenergy.com/renewable/marine/tidal_stream.php
and I found the tidal atlas itself, after a bit of casting around, at http://www.renewables-atlas.info/downloads/documents/R1432_Final_15May08.pdf
As for any development nowadays, there are various challenges to implement any scheme, creating hazards to navigation, issues around environmental or sealife impacts, and perhaps most fundamental, that the best power is not closest to areas of population and energy use.
Having seen various ancient tidal mills along our coastline, our forebears knew they could extract energy from the tide, without all the science or bother about impact on marine and bird life, but guess that is progress.
Definately one to watch.
Yes, scale is everything. And I've always said we missed another trick by not incorporating turbines in the legs of the new "twin sails" bridge.
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