The first turbine assembled at DCNS’ shipyard in Brest has been towed from the harbour to begin a series of commissioning tests at sea prior to installation.
Irish company OpenHydro is supplying the turbines each with a generating capacity of over 2MW.
The assembly of the first turbine for the Paimpol-Brehat project has now been completed by OpenHydro and its partner DCNS.
The assembly combines the turbine and the subsea base that holds the turbine in position on the seabed.
The turbine will be deployed on the seabed at a depth of 35m, and the turbine and subsea base, which have a combined weight of 850 tonnes and a height of 22m, will be tested for two months.
According to the companies, the objective of the test is to prepare for the implementation of the tidal array which is scheduled for installation in 2012.
EDF initiated the Paimpol-Brehat tidal farm project in 2004 and work commenced in 2008 with the support of local stakeholders.
