Another delay for Minesto’s Faroe Islands launch

Swedish marine energy developer Minesto has seen another setback on its tidal energy project in Vestmannasund, Faroe Islands.

During the initial commissioning phase of its DG100 tidal energy converter, a mechanical failure occurred in the powerplant’s mooring interface and denied further operations.

The company has now recovered the DG100 kite system for service and re-fitting of the failed mooring system component.

Minesto has also completed the installation of subsea and onshore infrastructure.

The subsea export cable setup, which connects the kite system powerplant to the onshore control station, has wrapped up.

This means that the Vestmannasund site infrastructure now operates and the offshore site links to the Faroese electricity grid.

To remind, Minesto previously hit an operational snag due to a technical issue occurring during cable laying.

The company noted that the technical issue with the subsea cable was not related to its DG100 tidal kite powerplant.

Dr Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto, said:

”We have gained increased important experience of subsea installations, service towing procedures and powerplant launch and recovery operations.

“Of course, we would prefer to be operational rather than still being in the installation and commissioning phase, but each step towards grid connected electricity generation is significant progress.

“The work towards power production in the Faroes is a top priority for Minesto and powerplant operation will commence as soon as favourable tidal conditions and service lead times allows.”

Minesto has secured public funding of €3.5 million through EIC Accelerator and SEA for the implementation of the Vestmannasund project.