Top news, March 7 – 13, 2016

Tidal Energy Today has compiled the top news from tidal and wave energy industry from March 7 – 13, 2016.

Tidal turbine produces first power off Shetland

The Shetland Tidal Array, a joint enterprise between Scottish Nova Innovation and Belgian ELSA, has successfully produced and exported the power from the first Nova M100 tidal turbine as part of the Phase 1 of the project. The 100 kW Nova M100 turbine delivered power to the Shetland grid following a winter of operations and testing. Phase 1 of the array consists of three 100 kW Nova M100 turbines, with more turbines planned in following phases.

France launches €3 million marine energy R&D call

French National Research Agency (ANR), in collaboration with France Energies Marines (FEM), has launched a second call for marine research and development projects. The call for projects in 2016 has a total budget of €3 million and is part of the SET-Plan set by the European Commission. ANR will co-finance 50% of eligible project expenses, with funding from €50,000 to €2 million.

OPT to lease PowerBuoy to Mitsui

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has entered into a letter of intent with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding (MES) to provide engineering support and potentially lease its APB350 PowerBuoy for the project off the coast of Kozu island, Japan. Initial engineering tasks are planned to commence this month with PowerBuoy shipment and deployment to Japan expected in 2017.

StingRAY rides a wave to market with US labs

The Virginia-based wave energy developer will collaborate with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories, to overcome the commercialization barriers of its proprietary WEC system – the StingRAY. The collaboration is part of the US Department of Energy’s Small Business Vouchers (SBV) pilot designed to help small businesses bring next-generation clean energy technologies to the market.

PLAT-O’s final dip before EMEC

Sustainable Marine Energy (SME)’s PLAT-O has undergone final submergence testing at SME’s facility in Venture Quays, East Cowes, Isle of Wight. The platform has been commissioned and started its journey to SME’s facility in Kirkwall in Orkney on March 10, 2016 ahead of planned deployment at EMEC.

Tidal Energy Today