Top news, September 10 – 16, 2018

MarineEnergy.biz has compiled the top news from marine energy industry from September 10 – 16, 2018.


SIMEC Atlantis tidal turbine grows stronger

The Turbine and Engineering Services Division of SIMEC Atlantis Energy, a diversified sustainable energy generation company, has unveiled the design of what’s said to be the world’s largest single rotor tidal turbine – the AR2000.

SIMEC Atlantis’ new 2MW tidal power turbine system includes the largest and most powerful single axis turbine available on the commercial market, according to the company.

The turbine is offered as part of a complete rotor to grid tidal generation system, with an array architecture that allows multiple turbines to be connected in parallel, reducing the cost and impact of the subsea infrastructure.


Magallanes’ floating tidal turbine on its way to Orkney

Magallanes Renovables’ floating tidal turbine is currently being towed from Spain to Scotland, where it will arrive mid-September and embark on a new journey: demonstrating its operational performance at a grid-connected tidal test site.

The company will install its full-scale Atir tidal turbine at the European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC’s) Fall of Warness site as part of the OCEAN_2G project that aims to test, validate and pre-certify Magallanes’ second generation (2G) 2MW tidal platform.


Verdant Power bags $6 million for final tidal demo

The US-based company Verdant Power has received $6 million to progress the program whose aim is to advance its next generation tidal power system in New York.

The US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has approved $3 million in co-funding support for the third phase of Verdant Power’s project that will qualify its tidal power system through to final test, demonstration and commercialization.

During the Phase 3 – three Verdant Power fifth generation free flow system turbines will be deployed on a TriFrame mount at the company’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) project in New York City’s East River.

They will generate electricity under a hydrokinetic pilot project license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – the first commercial license issued for a tidal power project in the United States.


Italian grid gets wave power delivery

The upgraded H24-50 wave energy unit, developed by 40South Energy and deployed off Marina di Pisa in Italy, has started producing power for the country’s electricity grid.

The upgrade activities on the H24 wave energy machine – first deployed in 2015 – have culminated in the commissioning of the device that fed its first power to the grid on September 13, 2018, according to Michele Grassi, the CEO of 40South Energy.

The device, the first of the H24 series designed and built by 40South Energy, was deployed at Ligurian Sea for the first time in November 2015. During the deployment, the device was converting wave energy into electricity, but dissipated the generated power locally instead of feeding it into the grid.


Bombora rides £10 million funding wave

Bombora Wave Power Europe has secured over £10 million in EU funding to build and commercialize its wave energy technology.

The £10.3 million, announced by the Welsh Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford, will support the design and testing of Bombora’s fully-submerged membrane-style wave energy converter dubbed mWave.

The project, worth £15 million, is expected to create up to 20 skilled jobs in South West Wales, supporting the local economy and creating opportunities for communities in Pembrokeshire.


Life DemoWave buoy anchors off Spain

A wave energy generation buoy of the Life DemoWave project has been anchored at the experimental site off Punta Langosteira in northwestern Spanish region of Galicia.

The 25kW prototype of the wave generation buoy was anchored on August 30, 2018, making the outer part of the breakwater in Langosteira a test bed for feasibility demonstration of an 11-ton wave energy device.

Spanish marine operator Advanced Crew and Ship Management (ACSM) was in charge of the execution of the system’s anchoring operation together with its three auxiliary buoys.