Nova Innovation-led European tidal energy consortium has secured €4.4m funding to develop tidal turbine subsystem.
Secured under European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, the funding will be used to develop and validate an advanced subsystem called direct drive power take-off (PTO) for tidal turbines.
The commercialization of the technology is expected to reduce the lifetime cost of tidal power by around 20%
The project has been named as Tidal turbine power take-off accelerator (TiPA), which will be carried out over a period of 36 months. The consortium will construct the PTO subsystem and carry out accelerated onshore testing in Germany.
Later, the in-sea testing will be conducted in Scotland based on third party validation of the design and test results.
The PTO subsystem is a component, which converts the mechanical power in the tidal turbine rotor into electricity that is exported into the grid.
The project consortium is also comprised of Siemens, SKF, the University of Edinburgh, RWTH Aachen University, Delft Technical University and Wood Group Kenny SAS ¦ SgurrEnergy.
Nova Innovation managing director Simon Forrest said: “We are delighted to collaborate with our European partner organisations to deliver TiPA to develop and demonstrate our innovative direct drive PTO for tidal turbines.
“We are extremely appreciative to the European Commission for their belief in our technology and sector, and are really looking forward to taking the PTO onwards to a commercial reality for the industry.”