Minesto Tidal Energy
Minesto develops a new concept for tidal power plants called Deep Green. Deep Green is based on a fundamentally new principle for electricity generation from tidal currents. The power plant is applicable in areas where no other known technology can operate cost effectively due to its unique ability to operate in low velocities. Minesto expands the total marine energy potential and offers a step change in cost for tidal energy.
The principle of the technology can be explained as a two stage process.
The first stage increases the relative flow speed entering a turbine. When the tide hits the wing it creates a lift force, since the kite is mounted to the ocean bed with a tether and is controlled by a rudder, the kite can be taken in the desired trajectory, here in an eight formed path. The method increases the flow velocity into the turbine by 10 times, compared to the actual stream velocity.
The second stage uses a generator to convert kinetic energy into electrical power.
The net result is increased power from a smaller package. The planned normal full size weighs only 7 tons excluding anchoring which gives an energetic payback time of 3 weeks, compared to 8 months for onshore wind.
The test confirms power production of the plant at Marin in Holland.
Duration : 0:2:34
Posted in 
Tags:
With a piece of …
With a piece of wire spinning around like that in a figure of eight, the danger to sea-life would be my primary concern. I’m guessing that to hold onto the “deep-green” the wire would be pretty strong, and during fast currents I’m sure the device would create a large force. So it stands to reason that it could slice up sealife. Looks clever – not practicle!
0:40-54 Why does he …
0:40-54 Why does he say speed and energy have a cubic relationship? Kinetic energy is proportional to velocity SQUARED which is a lot less than cubic. So 10 times speed is 100 times energy not 1000. Also it’s more likely to LOSE energy at greater speeds so it’s likely to be even less than that.
My main concern is …
My main concern is the following:
Isn’t the Deep Green a very easy target for the Great White!?
Really neat idea. …
Really neat idea. My main doubts are:
1. Are underwater currents fast enough to move a kite with a 12 meter wing span? It obviously is intended for very specific parts of the world were currents are strong.
2. How about algae and barnicles? How are they to be avoided? Once algae tangles arounf the teather, performance is going to drop. This equipment will obviously require high maintenance.
@brockunc
I think …
@brockunc
I think that the fact that it needs a large physical space for movement could be a positive thing in several ways, since the structure itself doesn’t take up much space at any given time. However, it would make such areas unusable for fishing, particularly trawling, and woud therefore create a free zone for marine life, most of which is quite capable of avoiding these kind of rather slow moving objects.
I don’t quite understand how the movement is maintained however?
This is amazing
if …
This is amazing
if it was in the ocean would it disturb the animals?
I just couldn’t …
I just couldn’t imagine them being able to run for very long before cables or rudders or turbines break. It seems too dynamic and complicated to have any longevity, to be able to fly back and forth constantly in an ocean full of dolphins and sand and things…
2. Is a matter of …
2. Is a matter of energy density. The volume of water needed for the flight path and cable seems significant for the energy captured. To produce significant energy we would have to allocate a large section of our coasts (the area with the highest impact).
I have a couple of ideas about how some of these things might be overcome but it seems it could be a hard sell with the current concept. Good luck
Great idea with …
Great idea with good potential. The only problem I see is with real world implementation. It would obviously be scaled up to produce any real amount of energy. The problem I see is twofold.
1. There are ecological, transportation, and human conflicts with giant “underwater plains” with propellers and long cables flying around in coastal waters.
(cont)
brilliant.
brilliant.