VIDEO: OpenHydro tidal turbine construction & deployment

Operations & Maintenance

OpenHydro, a DCNS company based in Ireland, has released a video showcasing its tidal energy turbine technology.

The company is providing tidal energy turbines for two grid-connected tidal arrays expected to be installed in 2016.

The first project, jointly developed by DCNS and EDF, called Paimpol-Bréhat, has already seen the installation of the first 500 kW tidal turbine in January this year, 16 km off the coast of Brittany, France.

The second turbine for the project was recently inaugurated by the the French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Ségolène Royal at the Port of Brest. The turbine will be installed at Paimpol-Bréhat site in the following months, forming a tidal array with a total capacity of 1 MW.

Across the Atlantic, OpenHydro is involved in another tidal array project through a joint venture Cape Sharp Tidal the company formed with Emera.

The project involves the installation of two 2 MW tidal turbines in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, with the first turbine expected to be deployed in June. The installation of another turbine of the same type will follow soon after, creating a 4 MW tidal array once completed.

Other projects in the almost 1.7 GW of OpenHydro pipeline include those at EMEC in Scotland, Brims Tidal Array off Orkney islands, Race Tidal off Channel islands, Tidal Ventures off Northern Ireland, and Normanie Hydro at Raz Blanchard, France.