Source: scottishenergynews.com
Published: February 22, 2017
Tocardo Tidal Power has launched a planned 20-year commercial demonstration project at the European Marine Energy Centre with the arrival of its InToTidal system at Kirkwall in Orkney.
With the installation at EMEC grid-connected tidal test site at Fall or Warness, Tocardo is readying for large scale roll-out of its generic solution for tidal energy production.
The next installation is planned to take place in Canada at the FORCE and Petit Passage locations.
Led by Tocardo, the project brings together Orkney-based companies EMEC and Leask Marine, and French research institute IFREMER.
To date, more marine energy converters have been deployed at the EMEC in Orkney, Scotland, than at any other single site in the world with 17 wave and tidal energy clients spanning nine countries having tested 27 marine energy devices.
Netherlands-based Tocardo has installed three linked turbines in the Afsluitdijk, a 20-mile long sea wall. Another Tocardo turbine in the Afsluitdijk has been providing electricity for over eight years now. Tocardo also deployed its first offshore floating project at the Island of Texel in The Netherlands.
Tocardo has already been working with international shipyard DAMEN, as well as Leask Marine, Bryan J Rendall Electrical and Aquatera in Orkney for the system deployment at EMEC’s tidal site.
Hans van Breugel, Chief Executive, Tocardo Tidal Power, said: “We believe that this type of energy stands at the beginning of its development and its full potential, just like wind turbines 10 years ago.
“But unlike other alternative sources, this ‘flow of energy’, delivers a solid, reliable volume of green energy. Therefore it generates a competitive ROI for investors.
“Our work at EMEC is an important step in de-risking and improving Tocardo’s offshore tidal power technology. Tocardo’s benchmark is to produce energy at the cost of offshore wind in the near future. To be able to achieve this, the tidal energy sector needs to be enabled to increase the installed volume of equipment.
“In that respect it is important to see a support scheme suitable for the marine energy sector, to encourage technology companies like Tocardo to build out on an industrial scale in the UK.
“A revenue based support mechanism, decreasing over time, has proved to be best in creating a new industry through market incentivisation, as learned from, as an example, the industry growth of the Danish wind energy sector.
“Tocardo is ready to become one of the larger inward investment companies into the marine energy sector, with a strong operational and production base in Scotland and Wales. The UK is extremely well positioned as a maritime nation to create new jobs from the growing tidal energy industry.”