Minesto - Marine Energy Technology
Imagine that you are standing on a beach, flying a kite in the wind. You feel the strong lift force from the kite in the rope as the wind tries to carry the kite away. As you move the kite sideways, you notice that it flies fast – way faster than the wind is blowing. If you would attach a turbine to the kite and put it in the ocean, where a water current flows instead of the wind blowing, you would have the concept of Deep Green, Minesto’s patented and awarded ocean energy power plant.
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Product Details
What makes Deep Green different from other tidal energy technologies is the wing, the size of the turbine and the fact that the power plant is “flying” under water. The wing pushes the turbine through the water in a eight-shaped trajectory, sweeping a large area at a relative speed that is several times the actual speed of the underwater current.
The speed has a cubic relationship to the power production. This means that when Deep Green multiplies the relative speed which the turbine is pushed through the water, the electricity produced by the power plant's generator is several hundred times greater compared to if the turbine would be stationary.
By adding this step of energy conversion, Minesto expands the global ocean energy potential.
Almost all tidal energy technologies are large horizontal axis structures. Stationary on the seabed, they require tidal currents 2.5 m/s or faster to cost-effectively produce electricity. However, the vast majority of the global tidal energy resource is of low-velocity character; streams that flows slower than 2.5 m/s. Deep Green is the only known technology that cost-effectively can produce electricity from those slower currents.
Advantages
'Monopoly' on a natural resource
Deep Green is the only known power plant that cost-effectively produces electricity at sites with velocities between 1.2–2.4 m/s and depths between 60–120 meters.
Small in size and lightweight
The power plant weighs only ten tonnes which is up to 15 times less per MW than competing technologies.
Low-cost offshore operations
Small vessels and equipment are used for installation, service and maintenance. Detachable design concept enables service and maintenance on shore.
No visual, minimal environmental impact
Deep Green operates completely submerged at least 20 meter below the water surface.
Predictable electricity production
Tides are generated by the relative motion of the Earth, sun and moon, which can be calculated with almost 100% accuracy. Ocean currents are nearly constant.
Utilisation of ocean currents
The ability to operate at low velocities makes Minesto's Deep Green the only technology to be cost-efficient in both tidal and ocean currents.
Deep Green has been undergoing extensive ocean testing in scale model for more than five years, during which operational functionality and power production have been verified and gradually improved. The project to manufacture and commission the first commercial-scale device is well underway.
How it Works
Deep Green produces electricity by a unique principle illustrated in the figure below. The water current creates a hydrodynamic lift force on the wing which pushes the kite forward
- The kite is steered in an eight-shaped trajectory by a rudder and reaches a speed up to ten times the water current speed
- As the kite flies in the current, water flows through the turbine at the same speed and electricity is produced in the generator.
- The electricity is transmitted through a cable in the tether attached to the wing
- The electricity continues via cables on the seabed to grid on shore
Power plant parts
The power plant consists of a wing (1), which carries a turbine (2) directly coupled to a generator in a nacelle (3). Rudders (4) and servo and control system steers the kite in the predetermined trajectory. The struts (5) are via a top joint connected to the tether (6), which is connected to a bottom joint at the seabed foundation. The tether accommodates the tether rope and cables for communication and power distribution.
Technical Specifications
- Rated power 0.5MW
- Water current velocity 1.2–2.4 m/s
- Installation depth 60–120 m
- Wingspan 12 m
- Height (top of rudder to end of top joint) 9.8 m
- Turbine diameter 1.5 m
- Nacelle length 9 m
- Nacelle diameter 0.9 m
- Tether length 80–120 m
- Dry weight 10 t
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