Power from Tidal and Ocean Currents
Imagine that you are standing on a beach flying a kite in the wind, you feel a strong force from the kite in the rope and notice that the kite flies fast, way faster than the wind is blowing. If you would attach a turbine to the kite and put it in the ocean, where a water current flows instead of the wind blowing, you would have the concept or Deep Green, Minesto´s power plant. The secret behind Deep Green is that it reaches a speed 10 times higher than the water current, just like the kite flies faster than the wind. The speed has a cubic relationship to the power; ten times higher speed gives 1000 times more power.
Deep Green produces electricity by a unique principle. The water current creates a hydrodynamic lift force on the wing which pushes the kite forward. The kite is steered in an 8-shaped trajectory by a rudder and reaches a speed ten times the water current speed. As the kite moves, water flows through the turbine and electricity is produced in the gearless generator. The electricity is transmitted through a cable in the tether attached to the wing. The electricity continues in sub-sea cables on the seabed to the shore.
To date five prototypes have been built and tested, electricity was first produced in 2009, and first test in authentic ocean environment were completed by the end of 2011. A ¼ scale prototype was deployed in 2013 and is currently undergoing extensive long-time sea trials in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland.
More: http://minesto.com/deep-green/?1363717498822
FiveWordsForTheFuture - Nov 5, 2014 | Energy, Green Economy, Sustainability
Tagged | energy, power, renevable energy, sea
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FiveWordsForTheFuture nasce per aiutare a riconoscere e capire l'innovazione, a immaginare il futuro nel senso di pensarsi in un tempo possibile, prossimo e concreto.
FiveWordsForTheFuture has been realized to help people in identifying and understanding innovation. Its aim is to imagine Our Future, through an inquiry into its concrete possibilities and by looking forward to those next, near realities that are going to come.
