PLAT-O is a tidal energy platform built by Sustainable Marine Energy (SME) to host tidal energy turbines. SME claims the platform will be able to provide a reduction in the cost of tidal energy of up to 50 percent, offering enhanced yield due to its optimum position in the water column. The system was launched from SME’s facility in Venture Quays on the Isle of Wight in November 2014 and towed from there to the test site at Yarmouth. Once there it was submerged to installation depth where it underwent a series of successful tests.
“It's a huge achievement for the team.PLAT-O has been generating power consistently, reliably and, most importantly has behaved as we predicted it would” said Jason Hayman, Managing Director of SME. “The mooring solution we have developed and employed is as steady as a rock.The installation operation went very smoothly and it absolutely goes to show that tidal energy devices can be installed in a low cost and efficient manner. Developing systems and deploying them in these strong tidal flows is a massive challenge but we have nailed it. The cost of tidal energy is coming down rapidly with systems like PLAT-O coming on stream.”
Matt Slatter, Chairman of SME, added that the completion of the testing programme in the Solent is a major milestone and the culmination of three years of hard work. PLAT-O has lived up to its expectations and the company is now focused on deployment of the system at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and the construction of the second PLAT-O. The intention is to deliver a farm of PLAT-O systems generating up to 1MW of power at EMEC by the end of 2016.
PLAT-O is a buoyant platform fitted with two 50 kW Schottel Hydro turbines. It will be taut moored to the seabed using an anchoring solution designed by SME engineers. SME claims the system is compatible with most leading turbine technologies and can be adapted to suit a wide range of configurations. The platform was designed so that installation operations can be carried out by small, readily available vessels, not huge ones costing tens of thousands each time they leave the dock. This means that any delays to operations due to bad weather do not waste chunks of money by having expensive vessels on standby. The systems anchoring solutions means that PLAT-O can be moored to rock, shingle or sand and is not limited by depth.
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