SPOTLIGHT ON THE NETHERLANDS
In a small town in The Netherlands, FishFlow Innovations is developing a free-flow tidal turbine that makes it possible to generate hydro power at high efficiency
The patented design also makes the turbine fish friendly and silent. The innovative turbine impeller is bi-directional. It generates electrical energy during ebb and flow without
FEATURE SPONSOR
FREE-FLOW TIDAL TURBINE
need for the impeller blades to be flipped over when the flow direction changes. This makes the design robust, cheap to maintain and a lot less susceptible to malfunction.
SPECIFICATION
The specific shape of the impeller blades do not induce cavitation and the water leaving the impeller is released in an almost straight beam. Direct hits by hydro power turbine blades and the noise that turbines produce because of cavitation are hugely underestimated causes of harm to aquatic life. Regardless of the speed the FishFlow Innovations impeller is rotating, it will not harm any fish passing through the turbine and neither will it produce noise.
PLACEMENT LOCATION SITES The glass fibre reinforced composite
INNOVATIVE AND PATENTED ENERGY SYSTEM
SeaQurrent was founded to accelerate the realisation of a 100% sustainable, affordable and reliable energy mix
To achieve this, the company developed an innovative and patented system, using a multi-wing underwater kite to make electricity generated from low velocity currents and shallow waters affordable.
HOW IT WORKS
The TidalKite Power Plant consists of several subsystems. It has a simple but robust design and is packed with smart electronics. The kite is tethered to a power take-off where the traction force of the kite is converted into green electricity.
The entire system is designed to be ecologically friendly and safe for marine life. It consists of several wings, enabling it to harvest a large amount of energy from the passing flow of water, in just one single movement.
ADVANTAGES » Renewable energy production, 100% predictable and 24/7/365
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www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk
» Large deployment potential, for both tidal and ocean currents
» Low CAPEX; through use of standard components, simple structure and low weight to kW ratio.
» Easy and cost effective installation and maintenance
» Simple and robust design; high availability
DEVELOPMENT In 2017 SeaQurrent performed successful proof of concept tests at the leading research centre MARIN in Wageningen. The tests confirmed the theoretical performance, which was validated by The University of Groningen. In spring 2018, SeaQurrent will validate the performance of the TidalKite system during sea trial testing.
POTENTIAL
One TidalKite generates 500kW, enough to provide ‘green electricity’ to 700
households. Systems are deployed in kitefarms forming projects that deliver tens to hundreds of megawatts. Systems can be installed near shore (>10m depth) or combined with other offshore installations such as windfarms and gas platforms.
SeaQurrent
turbine can be placed either inshore or offshore. Inshore placement can for example be along the shoreline, attached to bridges and in fast flowing rivers. The advantages of inshore placement are the savings on expensive power cables, the turbines are not in ship routes and can be easily accessed for maintenance. Even though they are placed near shore they are no horizon pollution because they are completely submerged.
TESTING
FishFlow Innovations is also testing the turbine impeller design to be used as silent, cavitation free and fish friendly ship propellers and bow thrusters. Tests have proven they are more efficient than conventional ship propellers and thus saving on fuel costs and carbon dioxide emission.
FishFlow Innovations
TidalKite
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