Minesto, Sweden-based developer of tidal energy systems, will perform trials on Deep Green, a unique technology for generating electricity from tidal currents. The new concept deploys deepwater structures resembling kites that can function even in slow water currents.
The kites feature turbines and they fly in a group of eight. They are attached by a tether to a fixed point on the ocean bed. They are directed by a rudder. The speed of the water moving inside the turbine gets accelerated by around ten times, generating more electricity.
Underwater Kites
The trials will be performed off the Northern Ireland coast. The Carbon Trust will offer Invest Northern Ireland’s £350,000 worth sponsorship for performing the trails. Deep Green can minimize cost overheads, thereby significantly expanding the size of the global marine energy market.
After successful trials, the company has decided to employ several deepwater structures around the seashore of UK. It is expected that these devices will produce 530GWh of electricity every year by 2020. This output is sufficient to meet the yearly domestic power requirements of a city measuring the size of Newcastle.
Benj Sykes, Director of Innovations, Carbon Trust, has stated that UK has few of the world’s finest tidal resources and they are looking forward to reduce the cost of tidal energy production. He mentioned that the Deep Green technology of Minesto could enable cost reduction and enfold new methods of producing tidal energy. He added that tidal currents can potentially generate over 18 terawatt hours of power, which is equal to more than 5% of the UK’s total power utilization.
The Carbon Trust R&D funding will enable Minesto to obtain site licenses for constructing installations, examining endurance of the installation in real ocean environment and also for building and analyzing a model for determining the cost of energy generated by the device.