HydroQuest to develop 17.5MW tidal energy farm at Raz Blanchard

French marine energy company HydroQuest has unveiled plans to develop a 17.5MW tidal energy farm at Raz Blanchard site, located off Normandy in France, following the takeover of the concession for the site from its former operator EDF Renewables.

The pilot tidal energy farm is planned to feature seven HydroQuest new generation tidal energy turbines, each with nominal power rated at 2.5MW.

The tidal turbines will be manufactured and assembled near the Raz Blanchard site in Cherbourg, in the workshops of HydroQuest’s industrial partner and main shareholder CMN (Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie).

The pilot is expected to pave the way for the industrialisation of tidal energy sector in France and abroad.

The news follows the successful demonstration of HydroQuest’s 1MW OceanQuest tidal turbine, which spent two years in operation at Paimpol-Bréhat test site in Brittany, before being disconnected in April 2021.

The two years of testing under real sea conditions have, in addition to verifying the device’s power curve, also proved its robustness with recorded availability of close to 90%, according to HydroQuest.

Thanks to the thousands of hours of operation clocked by the demonstrator, HydroQuest has designed an even more efficient tidal turbine, said to be lighter and cheaper than the prototype as well.

Thomas Jaquier, president of HydroQuest, said: “We would like to warmly thank the EDF Group which, after helping us develop our technology and making its Paimpol-Bréhat test site available, is now enabling us to take a new step towards the commercialisation of our tidal turbines by providing us the concession for seven machines at Raz-Blanchard.

“We are resuming the project carried out in perfect consultation with all the stakeholders, and we will continue on this dynamic, in particular with the fishermen.

“This pilot farm will allow us to demonstrate the value of tidal energy in the French and European electricity mix by providing completely predictable and carbon-free renewable energy”.

The Raz Blanchard is one of the most energetic tidal stream sites in the world, with a potential for extraction of 3GW of energy, out of the 3.5GW of total potential available in France, according to HydroQuest.