- Published
In a secret location in the Highlands of Scotland, there's a fast-flowing river that's the key to understanding the massive power of water.
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that → publish → water
It's where engineer David Mummery found himself more than a decade ago.
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Mummery → find → himself
With a length of cord tied tightly across the river, he swam out, gripped firmly, and let the unstoppable current rush over as he sunk his head below the surface.
"As an engineer we do the maths and stuff," he says, "but sometimes you can get a lot more from actually touching the water and feeling it".
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you → tie → it
As he lay down in the powerful rapids, he visualised a new type of small-scale tidal energy generator.
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he → lie → generator
It's an innovation he says could change lives for people in coastal communities.
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he → say → communities
"I'd be under the river, feeling the turbulence of the water rushing over me.
"
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I → feel → me
Trying to envisage how this turbine needed to interact with that environment - to understand the way the water was working."
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water → try → way
Mummery's idea became the Swimmer Turbine - a 50kw tidal generator named after his experience in the river.
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idea → become → river
Anchored to the sea floor, the fiberglass and steel device lies invisible below the water's surface.
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device → anchor → surface
It can generate enough electricity to power about 30 homes.
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It → generate → homes
He began tests in the river in early 2010s.
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He → begin → 2010s
On a patent lawyer's advice he found a secret location, far from curious Highland tourists and their cameras.
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he → find → tourists
"You're trying to be quite discreet because you're working with new technology," he says.
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he → try → technology
It was in the first years of his company, Flex Marine Power, long before Britain was gripped by the soaring costs of an energy crisis.
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Britain → grip → crisis
The size of the Swimmer Turbine is what sets it apart from large tidal projects dotted around Scottish waters.
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what → set → waters
Scotland is a world leader in the sector at sites including:
Nova Innovation - The world's first tidal stream array, deployed in 2016 in Bluemull Sound in Shetland
MeyGen - The world's largest tidal array, with four large 1.5MW turbines on the seabed of the Pentland Firth
Orbital O2 -
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Scotland → include → O2
The world's most powerful floating turbine, generating 2MW, anchored at Fall of Warness in the Orkney Islands
Mummery's turbine is ultra compact and low cost compared to these giant machines.
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turbine → generate → machines
Fishermen and local workers can build and install it themselves from their own village harbour.
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Fishermen → build → harbour
"Can you imagine like an Ikea furniture kit?
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you → imagine → kit
You get a shipping container and you'll open it up and it will be about 20 components.
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it → get → it
"You'll bolt them all together and then you've got your turbine ready.
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turbine → bolt → them
"There'll be a launch plan, you follow these instructions, then you'll be in the water."
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you → follow → water
Mummery's work did not always focus on small-scale power.
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work → focus → power
Originally from Guildford, he studied mechanical engineering at Surrey University.
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he → study → University
Before founding Flex Marine Power, he was a sought-after consultant in the UK energy sector.
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he → found → sector
For a time he specialised in nuclear work and decommissioning, designing robots for pulling material out of contaminated tanks.
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he → specialise → tanks
He moved north after falling in love with a girl studying at Glasgow University.
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He → move → University
Jo became his wife and they now live in the city suburbs with three young children.
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they → become → children
Conveniently, Mummery's relocation came at a time when Scotland was establishing its reputation as a centre for marine power expertise.
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Scotland → come → expertise
In 2010 he took a secondment at Scottish Power Renewables on the ground-breaking Pelamis project in Orkney.
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he → take → Orkney
The 180m-long (591ft) Pelamis P2 - nicknamed the sea snake - was the first deep-water, floating wave energy machine to generate power for the national grid.
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P2 → nickname → grid
Ultimately, Pelamis went into administration in 2014, but the ill-fated device remains celebrated as a milestone in marine power innovation.
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device → go → innovation
"The industry is littered with these examples of fantastic technologies and teams that do brave things that take decades," Mummery says.
"
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Mummery → litter → decades
But at some point the market doesn't step up and they falter.
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they → step → point
Some really good ones have lasted the course, but others have not and it's sad."
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it → last → course
Mummery says the UK has "phenomenal waters for tidal power" and he loved being a part of major projects - but couldn't shake a discomfort.
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he → say → discomfort
His work felt incongruous to the many small coastal communities he found himself in.
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he → feel → himself
"I'd be going out on boats around Scotland doing sonar surveys with all these really expensive pieces of kit.
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I → go → kit
"But the equipment was all really big, utility-scale stuff that would weigh hundreds of tonnes, shipped by people from the mainland.
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that → weigh → mainland
"All the people I was meeting in harbours or in the pub were fishermen.
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I → meet → pub
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
