SETB showcased at All-Energy Conference

SETB chairman Steve Prendergast was a guest speaker at the All-Energy Exhibition & Conference in Glasgow on May 13 2026.

His presentation highlighted SETB’s mission to research and develop the main components for a ‘Tidal Bar’ including the turbines and caissons, and to map out the size of the structure needed to competitively harness tidal energy and protect communities and habitats from rising sea levels and storm surges.

He explained how as part of the development process SETB formed a consortium with Jacobs,  Amentum, The Tidal Range Alliance and three universities and obtained an Innovate UK smart grant to develop a VLHT turbine.

Tidal Range energy has been labelled as too expensive with significant impact on the environment, This presentation shows how simplifying the design can reduce the environmental impact and significantly reduce the levelised cost of energy operating at a head range of 0.5m – 4 m with higher outputs. The projected life is 125 years and when taken into consideration is cheaper than offshore wind.

The presentation covered the building of a test facility, test results that exceeded expectations and development of a simple turbine design to a demonstrator and pilot project.

The All-Energy Conference is the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon exhibition and conference, welcoming more than 13,000 attendees and over 300 exhibitors alongside a programme featuring 600 speakers.

The event is a vital date on renewable and low carbon energy industry calendars and showcases the expertise, knowledge and innovative technology to better engineer an integrated net zero energy future with security of supply an increasingly important factor.

The goal of All-Energy since it was first staged in 2001, is to connect suppliers of renewable and low carbon energy solutions and policy makers to developers, investors, buyers and professionals from around the world, facilitating business and knowledge exchange on the show floor and in the conference halls.

Exhibitors came from across the UK and Northern Ireland, as well as from the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and the USA.