French tidal energy developer EEL Energy has grown its team with several new appointments.
EEL Energy has welcomed Marc Dekeyser as test manager, Elouan Hazard as R&D Engineer, and Loïck Mazelier as EEL software developer.
Also, Ulysse Charpentier , and Philippe Gouillard , have joined the company as interns in mechanical design.
Franck Sylvain , the CEO of EEL Energy, said: “We had very good results in the last six months and we think we are very close to commercialization for small units up to 5kW. It is why we have hired new talent to speed up the process”.
The design of EEL tidal energy converter has been inspired by biomimicry, or by fish swimming in EEL Energy’s case.
The device consists of a membrane that optimizes energy transfer by coupling fluid flow with an undulating structure. The membrane undulates under moving fluid pressure, and this periodic motion is transformed into electricity by an electromechanical system.
The company tested its scaled marine prototype device at Port of Brest in France in 2018, that was followed by trials on fluvial version of its tidal membrane device, suitable for use in rivers, in 2019.