Naval Energies recovers second Paimpol-Bréhat turbine

Naval Energies has retrieved the second tidal turbine that was deployed off Brittany in France as part of Paimpol-Bréhat tidal array demonstration project.

The recovery operation was successfully completed a few days ago, and the 500kW OpenHydro tidal turbine is currently on its way to Cherbourg on the Triskell barge, according to Naval Energies.

The turbine is expected to reach the Port of Cherbourg within the next few days, where the OpenHydro/Naval Energies teams will conduct the maintenance works, Naval Energies said.

The first turbine of the array was retrieved early in April 2017, and is currently being serviced in Cherbourg, ahead of redeployment which is planned before the end of the year.

Both turbines will undergo replacement of the faulty component that is threatening turbines’ resistance to corrosion, as previously informed by Naval Energies, formerly known as DCNS Energies.

The faulty parts were supplied by an unnamed British company which provided the same parts for OpenHydro’s turbines of similar type used for Cape Sharp Tidal project in Canada. The components on the turbines are currently being replaced at Port Saint John in Canada.

The two turbines for the Paimpol-Bréhat project, with the combined capacity of 1MW, were installed in the first half of 2016. The project is jointly developed by Naval Energies and EDF.