SPOTLIGHT ON IRELAND
THE SHAPE OF THE VESSEL ACCELERATES THE WATER INTO THE TURBINES AND GENERATES SIGNIFICANT ENERGY
UNIQUE TIDAL TECHNOLOGY THAT IS TACKLING THE LOW-FLOW BARRIER
GKinetic Energy was founded in 2014 and is based in County Limerick, Ireland. The company is developing a range of hydrokinetic turbines for both river and tidal flows. The device involves two vertical axis turbines placed on either side of a buoyant vessel.
The shape of the vessel accelerates the water into the turbines and generates significant energy in low flow speeds, removing the need for a head of water and expensive civil works. To date, the company has secured private investment and SEAI prototype development match funding. Efficient use of this finance has enabled rapid and cost effective movement through TRL levels.
COLLABORATION
The company continue to achieve milestones by identifying strategic partners and taking a collaborative approach to the Research & Development of their technology. In 2014, the device operated at an impressive 41% efficiency compared to the 32% industry standard at IFREMER in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France and in 2015, GKinetic were named winners of the SEAI Design Award. Aiming to commercialise small scale river devices, machine build partners, DesignPro Ltd secured Horizon 2020 Phase 1 Funding and are now working on the Phase 2 application.
DEPLOYMENT AND TESTING
In October 2015, the company successfully deployed and tested a 10kW device at the Limerick Docks, a custom designed test facility set up through collaboration with Shannon Foynes Port Company. This demonstration validated ease of deployment, mooring costs, blade pitch control system and wireless communication systems. In 2017,
they will deploy a 25kW machine on the river Garonne in France for further studies including an environmental impact analysis.
FUTURE
GKinetic are working toward the build & deployment of a 250kW prototype device in 2018. Collaboration with entities such as Numerics Warehouse, NUI Galway, MaREI, Shannon Foynes Port Company and UCC will be instrumental during this project.
The company aims to continue to prove their technology at
different scales and demonstrate their novel solution for flow acceleration and tidal energy extraction.
GKinetic Energy Ltd THE DEEP GREEN TIDAL ENERGY CONCEPT
UNLOCKING UNTAPPED NATURAL RESOURCES
www.minesto.com www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk PAGE 35
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