Sabella welcomes drivetrains for TIGER project tidal turbines

June 7, 2023, by Amir Garanovic

French company Sabella has received the first parts for its tidal energy turbines, which will be deployed by Morbihan Hydro Energies as part of the EU-backed TIGER project.

Tidal turbine parts being delivered to Sabella’s facility in Brest (Screenshot/Video by Sabella)

The drivetrains for the two tidal energy turbines, developed as part of the TIGER project, were delivered to Sabella’s assembly facility in Brest by the Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company SKF.

They will form part of two 250kW tidal energy turbines that will be deployed in the Gulf of Morbihan, offshore Brittany region in France.

The deployment will be conducted by Morbihan Hydro Energies, a collaborative company established by 56 Energies and Sabella, which received the official authorization for the deployment and testing of the turbines for a period of three years.

The test site will also allow the project to carry out environmental monitoring and identify ways to reduce costs while exploiting local carbon-free energy as well.

The deployment site for the turbines is located in the channel between the Pointe du Monteno and the Ile Longue, which is characterized by the presence of very strong currents which are suitable for the testing of tidal turbines.

“This is the result of a long period of development by Sabella and SKF teams and it marks an important milestone in the project.

“None of this would have been possible without the support of the Brittany Region, which is co-financing the TIGER project with European Union through the Interreg VA France (Channel) England program, and of Brest Métropole, which financed the workshop on the Brest marine renewable energy polder that we are using today,” Sabella said in a statement.

Turbine construction and deployment will take place toward the end of this year or early 2024, according to the information from the TIGER project.

TIGER project is a €45.4 million European cooperation initiative between France and the United Kingdom, whose goal is to develop, test and demonstrate tidal stream technologies at selected tidal sites across the English Channel area.

The project is led by Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, with 18 UK and French organizations as project partners.