ENERGY FROM THE DEEP
Underwater power plants arriving off North Wales coast
NEW underwater power plants are being introduced off North Wales.
Swedish marine energy developer Minesto has announced a new range of power plants called the Dragon Class.
They are an upgraded design of the firm’s Deep Green technology for predictable renewable electricity generation from tidal and ocean currents.
Featuring increased performance and decreased manufacturing costs, they will be delivered and installed in all of Minesto’s ongoing projects as well as in the build-out of the company’s first array projects.
This will include at Holyhead Deep off the west coast of Anglesey - the world’s first low-flow tidal stream project.
Minesto’s long-term plan is to expand the Holyhead Deep site to a 80MW commercial tidal array.
“We are excited to announce this latest development of our unique technology. The Dragon Class evolves from the systems we have installed and operated in our Faroe Islands’ project. Its increased customer value is straight to the point - maximise yield and minimise costs. This is the backbone product for our ongoing commercial scale-up,” said Dr Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto.
Using extensive CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modelling, ocean scale model testing and operational data from the grid-connected DG100 units in Vestmannasund, Minesto’s technology development team has been able to improve the energy conversion and at the same time refine the power plant by reducing the number of power plant subsystems and components.
With the Dragon Class Minesto also strengthens its patent portfolio as innovations related to the upgraded design have resulted in new patent applications.
Mr Edlund added: “The Dragon Class design results in significantly higher power production performance and by reducing the number of components we also decrease costs for manufacturing and assembly.
“In addition, it simplifies handling during installation and maintenance, which is crucial when we now scale up the technology to megawattsized power plants for commercial installations.”
The Dragon Class design scales effectively and will be available in different sizes and rated power tailored for maximum yield depending on site conditions such as water flow rate and depth.
Mr Edlund added: “We are in the procurement and manufacturing phase for five Dragon Class power plants for utilityscale (1.2 MW) and smaller microgrid installations.
“These will be delivered and installed in our current projects in France, Wales, and the Faroe Islands. We are pleased with the progress being made in these projects and they are on time and budget.”