Germany-based REAC Energy GmbH has completed testing of its patent-pending tidal energy device StreamCube in Orkney.
The company contracted Leask Marine to provide offshore support for the tow testing of the StreamCube, with Leask Marine fabricating a bespoke testing frame for the trials that was fitted to the multi-cat vessel, the MV C-Odyssey.
The aim of the testing was to validate and pre-certify a range of velocities and angle flows for REAC Energy’s tidal energy device, before progressing it towards commercialization.
The data obtained during the testing programme will be fed into the final design of the full-scale prototype generation device, the company noted.
Dr. Ing. Tobias Breitbach , Technical Director of REAC Energy GmbH said: “Our successful testing operations in Orkney has been a further important learning exercise in de-risking and improving the StreamCube to provide cost efficient tidal energy solution to the market. We were very happy to select Leask Marine as our marine partners as it was clear from the very start that their depth of knowledge and expertise would assist the engineering project to a productive outcome and allow us a cost-effective platform for trials in Orkney.”
Douglas Leask , Managing Director of Leask Marine added, “This is further recognition how Orkney has become the world’s centre of excellence for developers wishing to test and trial their devices before bringing to market. The Leask Marine team were particularly pleased to have been selected by REAC Energy GmbH to work on their StreamCube marine operations, and assist them to complete a complex range of testing criteria in a very short space of time.”
StreamCubes operates like conventional water wheels. The rotors, which are fixed to vertical axes, are set in motion by the current. The blades of the rotors are folded on or off depending on the position of the rotor. The folding and unfolding is driven by the inflowing fluid and supported or controlled by connecting elements.