Irish outfit DesignPro Renewables has installed its 25kW hydrokinetic turbine at the Seeneoh test site in the southern French city of Bordeaux.
The device was loaded into the river Garonne by crane and then towed to the deployment site by marine operations company Cœur d’Estuaire.
DesignPro Renewables innovation manager Vincent McCormack said: “This is a huge milestone for our project and an exciting day to see the first device put in the water without a hitch.
“Seeneoh, Cerenis, EVIAA Marine and Seeneoh have been a huge support in implementing the deployment procedures this morning which ran smoothly and as planned.”
The machine will be tested for at least a year with certification agency Bureau Veritas verifying the power curves.
The company is currently working on a 60kW machine which be built at DesignPro Renewables’ facility in Limerick before being deployed at a test site yet to be determined.