ORE Catapult, DNV GL, Ricardo to improve tidal turbines reliability

ORE Catapult has started the first phase of a joint industry project that aims to improve the reliability of tidal turbines powertrain.

The project is to reduce risk at the design phase and optimize the design process. The plan is to improve reliability which will result in the increased energy output, leading to the reduction of the costs of marine energy.

The collaborative project with Ricardo and DNV GL aims to address unique reliability issues faced by a tidal turbine powertrain in converting energy to electricity.

The three phases of the project that are expected to increase the confidence in tidal technology are:

• Identify existing data on tidal turbine reliability and any data gaps, and define a process and simulation methodology to better predict degradation or potential failure, as well as the reliability of a tidal turbine,
• Gather data through planned live testing, and develop a range of tools which can be employed at the design stage,
• Produce a recommended best practice guide on design optimization.

The project relies and will expand on reliability data and generic lessons learnt from many industries including offshore wind, and oil and gas.

ORE Catapult Marine Sector Specialist Simon Cheeseman said: “Improving the reliability of tidal turbine powertrains, and being able to more accurately predict failure rates at the design stage, will significantly increase investor confidence in tidal turbine technology and will ultimately reduce the cost of tidal energy to the consumer.”

Ricardo’s global market sector head for clean energy and power generation, Paul Jordan added that the project will allow the establishing of ‘Design for Reliability’ methodology for tidal powertrains, ORE Catapult press release reads.

ORE Catapult is the UK’s technology innovation and research centre for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy.

Ricardo is a global multi-industry consultancy for engineering, technology, project innovation and strategy.

DNV GL is a ship and offshore classification society, technical advisor to the global oil and gas industry, and for the energy value chain including renewables and energy efficiency.

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Image: Ricardo