Minesto Orders Deep Green Components

Minesto has placed an order with Green Marine out of Southampton, UK for the wing of its first commercial-scale Deep Green demonstrator.

In the manufacturing process of Minesto’s wing, the British outfit will be assisted by Gurit, supplier of composite materials and engineering services.

The ordered 12-meter wing has basically the same hydrodynamic shape and properties as the further-developed and recently manufactured scale-model wing, which Minesto took delivery of in November.

The wing will be made from composite material, with inner beams in carbon fibre and an outer shell in fiberglass. On the inside it is filled with a foam with room for dry ballast and an adjustable dynamic buoyancy system. On the outside, the wing is fitted with sensors to measure current velocity, kite speed and level of depth.

In addition, Minesto said it has also procured several other subsystems in December:

The tether rope, the cord which anchors the wing of the Deep Green power plant to the bottom joint at the seabed foundation. Minesto has chosen a rope from Dutch company FibreMax, made of a fibre called Dyneema.

UK-based Subsea Energy Solutions will be the supplier of the fairing, the outer casing of the tether, enclosing the tether rope as well as cables for communication and power transmission.

For the first 0.5MW Deep Green demonstrator that will be installed in Holyhead Deep, Minesto will use a micro grid system (MGS) buoy. The MGS buoy will be manufactured by marine energy company Malin Group in Scotland.

The company has also placed an order with Swedish Motala Verkstad Group for the rear nacelle. The nacelle is the “body” of Deep Green and the rear part holds the hydraulic system and the rudders. The front part of the nacelle will be delivered along with the turbine which Schottel is developing.