Hammerfest Strøm UK has already completed the design and pre-engineering of the tidal device and is now tendering for fabrication and installation. After a test period, the company will work with ScottishPower Renewables who have plans to install the device as part of a 10-MW tidal power array in the Sound of Islay (Scotland) by 2012. This project will be the largest demonstration tidal power project in the world and put ScottishPower Renewables at the forefront of global tidal power developers.
Hammerfest Strøm UK's Managing Director Fraser McCreadie said: “The Carbon Trust grant is very welcome in assisting the prototype development of the HS1000 device. The Norwegian parent company has in addition engaged KPMG to assist in raising a further £12 million for further commercial development of the company. We are approaching a broad selection of potential investors including industrial entities, utilities, venture capitalists and private funds. We will soon be preparing serial production and seeking long-term supply chain partnerships.”
The HS1000 device is designed based on a 300kW prototype, which has been installed in Kvalsundet in Norway for the last six years. The prototype device was the first turbine in the world to convert kinetic energy in tidal waters to electricity and deliver to the grid in 2004, and is regarded as one of the most advanced tidal power technologies in the world.
Recently re-installed in Kvalsundet, the turbine is going through a second test period, where it continues to produce electricity for the Norwegian grid and is monitored to detect further improvements in technology that can be applied to future generations of the turbine.
“We firmly believe that the tidal turbine developed by Hammerfest Strøm is the most advanced and rigorously tested device anywhere in the world,” claimed Keith Anderson, Director of ScottishPower Renewables, adding that: “Scotland is blessed with an abundance of renewable energy potential, and tidal offers perhaps the greatest source of power. The deployment of the HS1000 device is a major milestone in Scotland's ambitions to tap-in to this new source of energy.”
For additional information:
