Swedish marine energy developer Minesto has hired two local marine service providers for its long-term tidal energy technology trials in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.
The framework agreement of marine operations services , that will mainly cover diving works, vessel and mooring/barge maintenance, and marker buoy servicing in support of scale Deep Green technology testing, has been awarded to two companies – Cuan Marine Services , and Strangford Moorings .
From 2011 onward, Minesto has been testing its Deep Green technology scale models in offshore conditions at the Strangford Lough demonstration site.
The test site is used for the optimization of fundamental parts of Deep Green power plant by transferring and implementing knowledge gained through scale testing to full-scale, commercial product.
Minesto’s Deep Green technology generates power when the water current creates a hydrodynamic lift force on the wing which pushes the ‘tidal kite’, tethered trough a single mooring to the sea floor, forward.
The company’s first utility-scale device DG500, with 500kW rated capacity, has recently achieved initial electricity generation during the commissioning of the device, deployed in Holyhead Deep in Wales.