The turbines will become operational in 2015 and represents a fundamental step in the development of tidal energy in France. The announcement follows the successful testing of the L’Arcouest turbine in real world conditions at the Paimpol-Bréhat site between December 2013 and April 2014. The tests demonstrated the potential of the 16-metre diameter prototype, an essential step before the deployment of pilot marine energy farms.
The two new turbines will benefit from the feedback of studies to be conducted on components of the L’Arcouest and they will then be adapted for series production to support future calls for tenders for commercial farms.
The Paimpol-Bréhat pilot farm, together with other projects progressing in France and Canada, are aimed at demonstrating the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of the tidal energy sector. OpenHydro and EDF will use the site to test the operation of the turbines when connected to the grid, thereby demonstrating the long-term reliability of the technology under real conditions. This will pave the way for pre-commercial farms in 2016 and the development of a tidal energy sector in France.
“We are pleased with this announcement, which confirms the performance of the innovative tidal turbine technology developed by OpenHydro” said Thierry Kalanquin, executive chairman of OpenHydro and director of DCNS Marine Energy and Infrastructure Division. “We are eager to begin this new phase of our collaboration with EDF in order to contribute to the development of the tidal energy industry.”
OpenHydro specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of marine turbines generating renewable energy from tidal streams. The company was the first to deploy a tidal turbine at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and also the first company to connect to and generate electricity from tidal streams onto the UK National Grid. It has also successfully demonstrated a method of safely and economically deploying and recovering turbines directly on the sea bed.
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