FMGC, a French-based company, has manufactured tidal turbine ballast made of grey cast iron for Sabella’s D10 tidal turbine.
FMGC gravity-based tripod structure consists of three ballast blocks with a tubular shape.
Two ballasts tubes weigh 55 tonnes each, and one weighs 77 tonnes.
The base measures 20×20 and the entire machine weights 450 tonnes, including the turbine.
FMGC’s new turbine ballast is 4 to 5 times denser than concrete. It doesn’t require drilling the seabed, and once removed doesn’t impact the surface, FMGC’s press release reads.
Sabella’s D10 tidal turbine has been assembled in port of Brest. It will be inaugurated in April, and deployed at the Fromveur Passage in June. The electricity produced from the turbine will be fed to Ushant island’s grid.
FMGC is a subsidiary of Farinia Group, specialized in the manufacturing of a wide range of cast iron components.
Sabella is a Frech engineering and project management company, specialized in the field of marine energies and in tidal turbines.
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Images: Sabella/FMGC