HydroWing has been awarded a berth with 30MW potential at the Morlais tidal site operated by Menter Mon in Angelsey, Wales.
The company plans a phased approach starting with a commercial demonstrator project in 2023 which will be operated by HydroWing’s newly established Welsh entity HydroWing Tidal Projects.
The initial project looks to cement the technology at the site, grow the Welsh team and develop local supply chains and stakeholder relations to subsequently enable roll out toward the full 30MW.
The device will be installed using the recently acquired Inyanga Entsha, DP2 multi-purpose vessel.
The vessel is currently in Appledore, Devon, where it is being upgraded with intelligent launch and recovery systems.
HydroWing will work closely with the local supply chain in North Wales to deliver the demonstration phase.
The front-end engineering design is currently being undertaken and over the next months HydroWing will undertake detailed analysis and design to ensure optimised configuration of the turbines.
The HydroWing device has been inspired by Tocardo’s 1.25MW flagship OTP project, which has operated on the Eastern Scheldt barrier since 2015 with turbines arranged on a wing in a similar configuration to the HydroWing.
The project at Morlais will demonstrate the next generation Tocardo T-2si Turbines configured into the HydroWing structure.
The new turbines will feature enhanced blade performance and control innovation, HydroWing said.