3. Tidal Stream

3.8. Case Studies

Tidal stream devices have been built in a number of countries. However, currently there are no commercial schemes world-wide, but a number of demonstration projects are being implemented. The most worth noticing are:

  • Hammerfest Strøm developed the first grid connected tidal turbine which was installed on September 2003 in the Kvalsundet off Hammerfest (Norway), at 50 metres depth. The turbine has three 10-meter blades that turn with the tides to produce up to 300 kW of electricity, and it rests on 20-meter tripods anchored to the sea floor.
  • The first in the world tidal turbine generator in open-sea was installed 1 mile off the coast of Lynmouth, Devon, in spring 2003 by MCT Ltd. The location was selected because of its 5+ knot spring tide tidal streams and easy accessibility. The 300kW 11m diameter turbine prototype (Seaflow) is fitted to a steel pile which was driven into the seabed.
  • The Verdant Power’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) 175 kW demonstration project (6 free flow turbines - 5 with 35 kW generators and one equipped with a dynamometer for monitoring project operations) was licensed and commenced testing in mid-2006.

To add to this, the MCT SeaGen 1.2 MW commercial prototype has been fabricated and is currently being installed in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. The first developer that used the EMEC tidal test site in the Orkney Islands was OpenHydro, with their open centred turbine installed in late 2006. Additional tidal systems are scheduled for installation and testing there for 2008.

Click on the links below to download the case studies (available in English only).