PLAT-0 2 - Proving a Low Cost, Composite, Buoyant, Mid-Stream Tidal Turbine Platform at Full-Scale

Successfully development and proving of the composite PLAT-O buoyant tidal turbine platform in this project will lead the way towards a 50% reduction in capex for deployment costs in tidal stream projects and bring levelised cost of energy down towards a commercial £169/MWh – a fourfold reduction on current figures within 3 years. Typically sea floor mounted with expensive piled or gravity bases tidal turbines are hard to maintain and use expensive vessels with small operational windows for maintenance. PLAT-O is an innovative mid-water, not surface floating, platform for tidal turbines has low cost anchoring technology deployed by small vessels. On-board winches pull the device to the required depth and turbines placed in the most effective part of the tidal stream. Project proves a 100kW scale steel PLAT-O structure with on-board power conditioning electronics and novel rock anchor technology before developing a composite PLAT-O #2 structure for a 200kW demonstration. Proves the use of composite structures to reduce loadings and improve life and the complex mooring system and tethering loads. Partners: Sustainable Marine Energy Ltd and P E Composites Ltd.