Viteo, a French-based engineering company, has developed a river underwater turbine that could be deployed in Garonne river during 2016.
The company has developed and patented an underwater turbine rotor comprising three vertical biplanes arranged around a central axis.
Viteo designed a small, autonomous, floating device with a production capacity of 40 to 50 kW, to be more in line with the specifications of current calls for tenders, unlike medium-sized underwater turbines originally planned to be developed by the company, Api news agency specializing in business news from the Brittany and Pays de la Loire region reports.
The company is targeting estuary markets in Africa and France, and is looking at raising €500,000 to finance the manufacturing and installation of a full-scale demonstration system, according to Api.
Viteo’s turbine generator is supplied with an electrical cabinet incorporating sensors to collect the device’s in situ performance data, and the scaled tank testing of Viteo’s turbine have been completed, Api informed.