The $55 million project was conceived in 2004, with construction starting in 2008, and is set to be complete early next year. OpenHydro has similar projects in North America and the United Kingdom, but this new French turbine system will be the world’s first large scale grid-connected tidal energy farm, setting the bar for other nations of the world.
OpenHydro is supplying the four 2-MW turbines, 115 deep off the coast of Paimpol-Bréhat. The turbines are each 72 feet in diameter and are anchored along the seabed.
Along with solar power and wind turbines, tidal energy is an important renewable energy source that is underutilized at the moment. A major benefit of tidal turbine farms versus wind and solar farms is that they operate sight unseen. From the surface, the turbines are invisible and noiseless. OpenHydro states that the farms have no effect on the neighboring communities.
Each turbine was designed with a large, open center to allow marine life to pass through without risk of being caught or entangled in the blades. The turbine also turns without pollutants such as oils and greases, and produce little mechanical noise underwater.
The tidal farmwill be in operation next year, and we’re sure the world will be watching to gauge its effectiveness and profitability.
+ OpenHydro
Via CleanTechnica
