Nova Innovation ups tidal power tempo with €2.5M EIC grant

Scottish tidal energy company Nova Innovation has secured €2.5 million to build an upscaled tidal energy turbine, expected to further slash the cost of tidal power.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Fund will finance Nova’s UpTEMPO (Upscaling Tidal Energy Manufacturing and Production Output) project – a two-year campaign to design, build, and demonstrate an enhanced version of Nova’s 100kW tidal turbine.

The advanced 200kW device will feature blade pitch control, increasing the amount of power and energy generated, and a more compact turbine body that will reduce the weight and cost of the device.

Together, these innovations will cut the cost of tidal energy by 30%, smashing the EU Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan tidal energy cost target of €150/MWh by 2025, Nova claims.

Simon Forrest, CEO of Nova Innovation, said: “Tidal energy is needed for our future renewable energy mix – it is clean, reliable, predictable and has no visual impact.

“The EIC funding will help us develop our world-leading tidal energy technology that has been generating energy to the grid since 2016.

“Our current M100-D tidal turbine, named ‘EUnice’, has delivered outstanding performance since deployment in Shetland in 2020.

“The UpTEMPO project will build on this success, driving down costs even further through innovation and economies of scale. The turbine will be designed to meet the needs of utility clients in our target markets around the world”.

In 2016, Nova Innovation was the first company to successfully deliver an offshore array of tidal turbines in Bluemull Sound in Shetland.

Earlier in December, the company also secured £800,000 for the CREATE project through UK government’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, along with £200,000 to Nova’s FLITE (Feasibility of Larantuka and Indonesian Tidal Energy) from Innovate UK received in late November.