SIMEC Atlantis Energy has redeployed a tidal energy turbine for MeyGen project, which underwent significant upgrades to improve performance and reliability.
One of the major steps ahead of redeployment of the ‘Turbine 2’ at MeyGen was to convert it to use a wet-mate connection system.
This dramatically reduces costs and time for future maintenance work, according to SIMEC Atlantis.
The innovation has been a key development in ensuring the next phase of turbines deployed at the MeyGen site are the most advanced and deliver the best performance in the industry, the company said.
This innovation wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the EU-funded Tidal Stream Industry Energiser Project, known as TIGER .
As a demonstrator project, the lessons learnt, improvements and innovations are key to unlocking commercial and scalable projects.
With this in mind, SIMEC Atlantis has made the decision to bring forward the reshoring of ‘Turbine 4’ to allow for preventative maintenance and upgrade work.
This will also continue to allow the company to drive the improvements, learning and data needed to unlock the next phase of turbines at the MeyGen site.
Graham Reid , CEO of SIMEC Atlantis, said: “The value in MeyGen Phase 1 for SIMEC Atlantis and the industry is in proving the technology but also in the constant innovation and lessons learnt that allow us to unlock truly scalable and commercial projects.
“The successful upgrade and deployment is a major milestone, and I wanted to add a personal thank you to all the team who have gone above and beyond to enable this. Their hard work and passion deserve recognition, without them, there is no industry, and they should be incredibly proud of another milestone achieved.”
To remind, ocean services provider DeepOcean was recently hired to conduct offshore maintenance work on MeyGen. The offshore construction scope included the reinstallation of an AHH tidal turbine generator with a new faster connection system at the MeyGen site.
The work scope also included the installation of the connection components on the subsea foundation, cable rerouting works and the turbine installation.