Minesto up and running again in the Faroe Islands

Swedish marine energy developer Minesto has resumed operational activities on its DG100 tidal power plant in Vestmannasund in the Faroe Islands.

According to Minesto, personnel, hardware and installation vessels have been mobilized and work on commissioning is ongoing.

“We are pleased to be up and running again in the Faroe Islands and look forward to continuing the work of delivering tidal power to the Faroese electricity grid from the facility in Vestmannasund”, said Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto. “Scaling up and commercializing the technology is Minesto’s main focus. We are making good progress in terms of realizing a planned 10 MW plant in the Faroe Islands together with our partner SEV. This work includes collaboration with local actors to secure long-term and cost-effective operational resources”.

In parallel, Minesto is working with the international classification society DNV for third-party verification of the technology’s production performance according to international standards. The first phase of this collaboration has been completed.

“Third-party validation of the DG100 system’s electricity production performance increases our ability to strengthen commercial relationships and attract project financing”, Edlund said.

At the end of 2020, the configuration of the DG100 system was successfully verified, both in terms of functionality and performance. Based on these results, Minesto has in recent months locked the design and established the production plan for a scaled-up power plant with 1.2MW rated power, the company informed.

This design forms the basis for the two tidal power parks that are under development in the Faroe Islands and in Wales.

“With a strengthened and more experienced organization, we are convinced that our focus on developing projects on a larger scale in parallel with the value-creating activities in Vestmannasund will give us the results we need to successfully commercialize our unique product”, Edlund added.

Minesto has been granted public funding totalling approx. €3.5 million through the EU’s EIC Accelerator and the Swedish Energy Agency for the implementation of the Vestmannasund project and the development of the DG100 marine energy converter.