California-based tidal energy developer Aquantis has signed up to test its Tidal Power Tug at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.
Aquantis has signed a berth agreement for a six-month testing programme in 2023 at EMEC’s Shapinsay Sound scale test site.
Aquantis’ Tidal Power Tug is a second generation floating tidal energy converter. The versatile spar-buoy platform supports a 10-meter diameter, two-bladed variable-pitch rotor and 160 kW drivetrain. By testing at EMEC’s scale test site, Aquantis will gain experience of marine operations, while generating performance data to validate its loading and dynamics model, controller functionality and load mitigation techniques.
EMEC will support Aquantis’ testing with tidal resource monitoring and the provision of its Test Support Buoy enabling remote communications with the device, data relay via EMEC’s supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and safe dissipation of power generated on site.
EMEC will also provide project management, operations, consenting, monitoring and performance testing support.
The demonstration of Aquantis’ Tidal Power Tug is supported by the Interreg North-West Europe’s Ocean DEMO project, led by EMEC. The tidal turbine is being developed via the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) SHARKS (Submarine Hydrokinetic And Riverine Kilo-megawatt Systems) program.
Peter Stricker, Aquantis’ Chief Commercial Officer, said:
“We are delighted to have this opportunity to test at EMEC’s world-class facility and work with the EMEC team. The Power Tug represents a number of design breakthroughs innovated through the SHARKS program, aimed at reducing the cost of energy. We will observe performance of this system for the first time operating in open water at the Shapinsay Sound test site. This promises to be a truly exciting moment for the Aquantis team as we prepare for deployment into the UK market.”
Established in 2003, the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd is the world’s first and leading facility for demonstrating and testing wave and tidal energy converters – technologies that generate electricity by harnessing the power of waves and tidal streams – in the sea.
(Source and image: EMEC – Tidal Power Tug)