Tocardo earns Ofgem creds

 
Dutch tidal energy developer Tocardo Tidal Power has obtained accreditation under the renewables obligation scheme for its 1.4MW EMEC deployment.

The accreditation, issued by UK’s regulator for gas and electricity Ofgem, and the deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), have made Tocardo ready for large scale roll-out of its generic solution for tidal energy production, the company said.

Hans van Breugel, CEO of Tocardo, said: “With this accreditation under this renewable support scheme for the EMEC project, a commercial business case has been secured. Tocardo’s benchmark is to produce energy at the cost of offshore wind in the near future. To be able to achieve this, the tidal energy sector needs to be enabled to increase the installed volume of equipment.

“In that respect, it is important to see an industrial support scheme suitable for the marine energy sector, to encourage technology companies like Tocardo to build out on an industrial scale in the UK.”

Tocardo has entered the tidal energy market in the UK with the InToTidal project kick-off and subsequent installation of Tocardo’s temporary foundation system (TFS) in Orkney earlier this year.

The deployment at EMEC’s Fall of Warness grid-connected tidal test site year marked the start of the Tocardo’s planned 20-year commercial demonstration project in Orkney.

Led by Tocardo, the project brings together Orkney-based companies EMEC and Leask Marine, and French research institute IFREMER.

Tocardo has already been working with international shipyard DAMEN, as well as Leask Marine, Bryan J Rendall Electrical, and Aquatera in Orkney for the system deployment.

The next deployments by Tocardo are planned to take place in Wales and Canada.