RD Marine to test Capricorn tidal turbine

Renewable Devices Marine (RD Marine) plans to conduct real-sea testing of its Capricorn 5 tidal turbine, UK media report.

RD Marine will submerge its Capricorn 5 turbine at the Forth river estuary this week, to conduct first ever sea trials on a Capricorn unit, according to the Scotsman, a Scottish daily.

As reported earlier, RD Marine, small technology development company based in Roslin, UK, has developed Capricorn turbine technology with a horizontal axis, contra-rotating, twin rotor architecture.

Each rotor has three blades designed to be bi-directional in operation, which means that the turbine produces electricity both on ebb and flow tide.

The company developed two types of Capricorn marine turbine – Capricorn 5, with the capacity of 50 kW, and larger variant, Capricorn 125, with the capacity of 1.25 MW.

“We have the small 200-kilowatt device ready to go, and it’s being launched now for the first time in its entirety. We’ve tested all the systems independently, some in the water, some in the laboratory, but this is the first time we’ve put the whole machine together and are putting it in the sea. We’ll bring it in and refine the design before putting the unit out permanently,” David Anderson, Director at RD Marine, was quoted as saying by the Scotsman.

The Capricorn 5 is expected to remain under trials for approximately a week during which the performance of the turbine will be monitored, Scotsman reports.