French tidal energy developer Sabella has engaged the services of Olympic Shipping’s multi-purpose vessel Olympic Taurus for the installation of new cable part related to the Ushant island tidal energy project.
The vessel, currently in the Port of Brest, will tonight set sail for the Fromveur Passage, off Ushant island, to install a new dry mate connector at the end of the export cable for Sabella’s D10 tidal turbine.
The operation is expected to last for two days, starting on Tuesday, August 29, 2017, and is being conducted in order to repair the part of the cable damaged in June 2015 during the installation of the turbine and its jumper cable, Jean-Christophe Allo, Project Manager at Sabella, confirmed.
The 1MW tidal turbine, which has been undergoing maintenance works in Brest since its retrieval in July 2016, is planned for redeployment later this year. However, the redeployment date might be pushed back to 2018 due to weather conditions.
Jean-Christophe Allo said: “We are still looking to install it by the end of the year even if we are aware that, considering weather statistics during the winter in Western Brittany, it is highly probable we won’t be able to find a suitable time before March or April.”
The D10 tidal turbine has a rotor diameter of 10 meters and height of 17 meters, weighing around 450 tones.
In September 2015, the turbine was connected to Ushant island’s electricity grid, and after two months, it started delivering power to the island.