Minesto has delivered first electricity from its tidal powerplant Dragon 12.
The company’s 1.2MW utility-scale tidal powerplant was successfully commissioned and provided power to the national grid in the Faroe Islands early 9 February.
The Dragon 12 is Minesto’s first tidal energy kite in megawatt-scale. The 12m wide and 28-tonne heavy subsea kite, anchored with a tether to the seabed, is steered in an eight-shaped flight trajectory powered by the tidal flow.
Dragon 12 is a ten-times scale-up from the existing 100kW Dragon 4 that delivers competitive performance and cost-levels for build-out of large-scale commercial subsea parks of tidal powerplants.
“This is a big day for Minesto. We have reached the most significant milestone in the history of the company by producing electricity to the grid with our mega-watt scale powerplant. We are both proud and happy and more than ever look forward to the journey ahead,” said Dr Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto.
“What the Minesto team has achieved today is extraordinary and set a new agenda for renewable energy build-out in many areas of the world. The competitiveness of the Dragon 12 is straight to the point; it’s powerful, cost-effective and feeds predictable electricity to the grid.”