A second 500kW OpenHydro tidal turbine has been installed at EDF’s 1MW Paimpol-Bréhat site off the north west coast of France.
The 16 metre machine was shipped from Brest on 26 May and lowered to the seabed on Sunday by the DCNS company’s deployment barge off the Brittany coast. The installation took less than an hour, OpenHydro said.
A first turbine was installed in January with both machines expected to be connected to the grid over the summer in what will be the world’s first grid-connected tidal array.
OpenHydro chief executive James Ives said: “OpenHydro, DCNS and EDF have worked hand-in-hand to deliver this milestone for the tidal energy industry. Paimpol-Bréhat is a global industry first; giving us key insights into the operation of our turbines at array scale.
“This historic achievement is also an essential step on the path to commercialisation and in ensuring OpenHydro is well positioned to benefit from the €200 billion tidal energy market which exists world-wide.”
The Irish company said it is also planning a turbine manufacturing facility in Cherbourg to act as an industrial hub for the delivery of the 14MW Normandie Hydro project.
Discussions are ongoing between DCNS/OpenHydro, the Ports of Normandy Authority and the French government agency, SHEMA, to finalise plans for the ambitious facility, it said.
Image: OpenHydro
