Dutch tidal developer Tocardo has tested its T2 turbine on the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s new 1MW drive train test facility.
The test results will be used to further improve the power output of the T2, validating and optimizing the turbine design to give Tocardo and its investors’ confidence that the turbine is ready to be deployed and start generating electricity, ORE Catapult informed.
ORE Catapult’s new test rig will be used for research and development, to validate the efficiency and reliability of new turbine designs and for upscaling developer prototypes to multi-megawatt scale.
Hans van Breugel , Tocardo’s CEO, said: “It was a valuable experience for Tocardo to test our T2 turbine at the new test rig and it gave us a lot of information.”
The next step for Tocardo will be to deploy the T2 at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney for further validation testing.
The rig was developed in response to an industry need for sub-1MW turbine testing as part of Tidal EC, a European FP7 project on power take-off optimization of tidal turbines, according to ORE Catapult.
Tony Quinn , ORE Catapult’s Operations Director, said: “The new rig will allow turbine developers to resolve technical issues prior to deployment, minimizing the risk of early complications and unplanned maintenance.”