Dragon roars with record power in Faroe Islands: Minesto hits new tidal energy output milestone

Swedish tidal energy developer Minesto has revealed an electricity generation record in the Faroe Islands, where its tidal power plant set a new production record over the summer, after being upgraded with a new power-take-off (PTO) system that improves energy output throughout the tidal flow cycle.

Minesto has disclosed that its microgrid-scale Dragon 4 power plant with an upgraded PTO system delivered record-breaking electricity generation over the summer in Vestmannasund, Faroe Islands.

Dr. Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto, commented: “We have now demonstrated what we believe to be the most efficient tidal energy power plant in the world in terms of energy conversion performance. This is proven through continuous production over several months.

“With the results from this upgrade, we claim to have demonstrated the most efficient tidal energy power plant in the world in terms of energy conversion performance, proven over several months of production. The production performance is fully in line with our simulation models, further validating our ability to specify power plant configurations that maximize energy extraction at a given site.” 

The Swedish firm emphasizes that the tidal flows in Vestmanna have proven to be stronger than historically modelled and anticipated, creating additional potential for energy production.

Bernt Erik Westre, CTO at Minesto, underlined: “The published power production data illustrates stable generation that closely follows the intensity of the tidal currents in Vestmanna at the production site.

“We can clearly see that the upgraded Dragon 4 captures energy in proportion to the predicted available resource. Both curves are produced by our Dragon 4 ‘Saga’ in Q2 and Q3 this year, the only hardware difference is the PTO.” 

Since the original power-take-off system did not fully capitalize on the inherent potential, the company’s engineering team developed what it describes as a more powerful PTO, which has demonstrated improved energy production throughout all tidal flow cycles while simultaneously reducing system costs.

Edlund added: “The know-how and technology we have built over the years in integrating a power-take-off system into our unique Dragon systems has been hard-earned. The demanding and dynamic operating conditions created by tidal cycles and ocean environments make this expertise truly unique.

“With this new proven performance level, the commercial value of our intellectual property related to Dragon hardware and software has multiplied over the summer.”

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