The Swedish Energy Agency has awarded research funds totalling Skr5.7m to tidal energy developer Minesto and its partners.
The money is for the further development of Minesto’s Deep Green technology, including a full-scale model.
Deep Green is a marine power plant that extracts energy from low-velocity tidal and ocean currents.
Minesto said the concept has been developed over nearly a decade and for the last three years quarter scale ocean testing is ongoing outside the coast of Northern Ireland.
In parallel, the company plans to develop its first full-scale power plant in Wales in the summer of 2017.
Minesto chief technology officer Heije Westberg said: “These research funds are earmarked for strengthening the further development of Deep Green.
“The knowledge that will be generated in the projects benefits us, our partners in the projects and hopefully the whole sector of marine energy.”
Minesto is partnering with SSPA and Moorlink on a cost efficiency of marine energy converters project that is customised for Deep Green and focusses on improvements to the mooring and rudder design, as well as on full-scale simulations.
Minesto is also working with the University of Gothenburg’s Department of Marine Sciences and Chalmers University of Technology on the optimisation of subsea power plants.
Image: Minesto
