Alstom has developed Oceade 18 – 1.4 MW, a new tidal turbine, with improved design based on the Alstom’s experience with 1 MW tidal stream turbine.
The Oceade tidal stream turbine has the capacity of 1.4 MW with a rotor diameter of 18 m. It has three variable pitching blades, and is equipped with plug-and-play modules on rails.
The modules are accessible through an inspection hatch at the rear of the nacelle, which faster assembly and maintenance.
The turbine is buoyant, which lowers the installation and maintenance costs since no special vessels and divers are necessary to perform the deployment.
The turbine unit rotates according to incoming tide for the optimal tidal energy extraction.
Four Oceade™18 – 1.4 MW tidal turbines will be installed at Raz Blanchard pilot tidal farm .
With 5.6 MW in total capacity, the tidal turbines will be able to supply power to 15.000 people. The project is slated to begin in 2017 and is expected to operate for a period of 20 years.
Jacques Jamart , Alstom Senior Vice-President in charge of new energies, said: “Thanks to this project, Alstom technology will be in a position to demonstrate its efficiency, its optimized costs and its maintainability, a necessary prerequisite to considering any future move towards a commercial phase on a larger scale.”
Source/Images: Alstom