Aquantis to test floating tidal energy device at EMEC

Aquantis Inc, a tidal energy developer based in the US state of California, has signed up to test its floating tidal energy converter at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.

Under a berth agreement for a six-month testing programme, the company will deploy its Tidal Power Tug at the Shapinsay Sound scale test site next year and will receive project management, operations, consenting, monitoring and performance testing support from EMEC.

Aquantis’ second-generation device is a versatile spar-buoy platform that supports a 10-metre diameter, two-bladed variable-pitch rotor and a 160-kW drivetrain. It is being developed via the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) SHARKS (Submarine Hydrokinetic And Riverine Kilo-megawatt Systems) programme.

Testing at the EMEC site will provide Aquantis with performance data needed to validate its loading and dynamics model, controller functionality and load mitigation techniques. The firm will also gain experience in marine operations.

“While EMEC has long supported the development of marine energy in the United States, Aquantis will be the first US ocean energy developer to physically test at EMEC,” noted Richy Ainsworth, US Project Engineer, EMEC.

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