HydroWing tidal tech launches in Cornwall

Cornish tidal energy start-up Inyanga-Tech has launched a tidal energy project called HydroWing, which is based on a full-systems approach targeted at subsea tidal energy arrays.

Inyanga-Tech’s patent-pending HydroWing technology has received grant support from Marine-i program, as well as from the project’s lead partner, University of Exeter, which is undertaking research looking at operations, maintenance, reliability and yield analysis.

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Marine-i is a partnership project aiming to boost the marine technology sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, whose funding enabled the recruitment of two specialized research project engineers for the HydroWing devleopment, according to Inyanga-Tech.

Richard Parkinson, Managing Director of Inyanga-Tech, said: “The focus of the project is on developing a ‘full array balance of plant solution’ based around our unique HydroWing technology.

“To achieve commercial viability, tidal energy needs to be at the correct scale and needs to address fundamental issues that have delayed the industrialisation of the sector.

“The HydroWing technology greatly reduces the dependency on offshore construction vessels during the construction phases and eliminates the need for these vessels during the O&M phase.

“This is achieved through focus on weight reduction and modularisation using tried and tested subsea construction methods. This also makes the technology more viable for remote areas where specialised vessels are not available.”

According to Parkinson, the aim of Inyanga-Tech is to ‘rapidly’ develop the technology towards a first demonstrator deployment in 2020.

“We are investigating several site options in collaboration with industrial partners and we continue to welcome further collaboration from interested parties,“ Parkinson concluded.