Marine energy developer Atlantis Resources announced today that it has completed onshore testing of its AR1000 tidal turbine at the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in Northumberland.
Narec’s 3 MW capacity turbine drive train test rig enables manufacturers to put their devices through accelerated testing in simulated offshore operating conditions, allowing the gathering of large amounts of data in a short time.
Atlantis says it has collected data on its AR1000 turbine equivalent to four months of tidal exchanges.
“We’ve learned an awful lot about the AR1000 turbine as a result of this testing programme,” says Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius. “The solid performance of the… has given our engineering team confidence in the performance, integrity and reliability of the AR1000 turbine system.”
The AR1000 programme has been the first drive train test in Narec’s new Nautilus facility. The new test rig is part of a £150 million investment programme in Narec to create the UK’s national translational research centre for offshore renewable energy technologies.
Tony Quinn, director of operations at Narec, says this kind of accelerated lift testing conducted in onshore facilities will help advance the development of tidal turbines and become increasingly important as the industry heads torwards commercialization.
Atlantis says these initial results will be fed back into the design process before further on- and offshore testing.
Ultimately, the company intends to develop tidal energy sites in the Pentland Firth in Scotland, the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy in Nova Scotia, Canada, and in the gulfs of Khambhat and Kutch in Gujarat, India.
For further information:
www.atlantisresourcescorporation.com
www.narec.co.uk
Related stories:
UK waters hold potential for 118 GW of wave and tidal capacity (12-Oct)
Scottish Government awards £7.9 million to tidal and wave developers (6-Sept)
Marine Energy Park launches in Scottish waters (2-Aug)
Atlantis to test tidal turbine at Narec’s new facility (7-Feb)
Article source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/5454/
