Harnessing the reliable and predictable energy of tidal streams, Tidal Generation Limited has surpassed the 200 megawatt hours (MWh) mark of electrical power generated and fed into the national grid with its 500 kilowatt (kW) tidal turbine prototype, which operates subsea off the Orkney Islands, Scotland.
Robert Stevenson, CEO, Tidal Generation Limited said: “We are delighted to have exceeded 200 megawatt hours of electricity supply to the grid with our tidal technology. This demonstrates the tremendous potential of tidal as a cleaner, greener source of energy. Government support and incentives will be required to create the necessary investment climate to bring the technology to commercial scale, competitive with other renewable sources.”
About TGL
1. Tidal Generation Limited is a wholly owned Rolls-Royce subsidiary.
2. Installed as part of the Deep-Gen III project, co-funded by the UK government-backed Technology Strategy Board, the Rolls-Royce / TGL 500kW prototype tidal turbine is currently deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC) offshore test site off the Orkney Islands, Scotland.
3. The tidal unit’s three-bladed turbine is attached by a tripod to the seabed and can operate, fully submerged at water depth of 40 meters. Its innovative design allows the turbine to continually rotate to face the incoming tide at an optimal angle. In addition, the turbine unit is semi-buoyant and can be easily towed to and from the point of operation, minimising installation and maintenance costs by avoiding the need for specialist vessels.
4. As part of the Energy Technologies Institute funded ReDAPT (Reliable Data Acquisition Platform for Tidal) consortium project, Rolls-Royce is currently building a 1MW tidal turbine demonstration unit that will be deployed in mid-2012 at EMEC in Orkney. The project will deliver detailed environmental and performance information never before achieved at this scale in real sea conditions. Rolls-Royce is also working with a number of developers in advancing demonstration arrays, systematic arrangements of turbines, which will lead to large scale commercial deployment.
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , March 13, 2012; Image: TGL