QED Naval has completed the commissioning of all onboard ballast and instrumentation systems on the Subhub tidal energy platform.
The Subhub platform is now ready for testing and launch early in 2018, the Edinburgh-based engineering consultancy QED Naval informed.
QED Naval is working with Schottel Hydro on this 190kW version which is competitive, in terms of levelized cost of energy (LCOE), with diesel generation for island communities’ or offshore power generation for aquaculture offering excellent niche market opportunities, QED Naval said.
Subhub platform has been designed to commission, test, transport, install, and secure a mini array of wave and tidal turbines to the seabed.
QED Naval said that its latest computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, when combined with a tidal harmonic models for the site and power curve of the tidal turbine, show increases in yield of up to 50% year on year when compared with typical monopile structures.
The platform has been fabricated by the engineering company Cimpina, and the trials will be conducted at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).