World’s Largest Tidal Turbine will generate enough power for 1,000 homes

The oil and gas fields of the North Sea have been meeting the power needs of the UK population for a number of years but such things have a finite lifespan and there are different ways to get power from the sea. The world's largest and most powerful tidal power turbine has just been unveiled by Atlantis Resources Corporation ahead of installation at a special berth at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland. The AK1000 will shortly be secured to the seabed off the choppy waters of Orkney and connected to the grid at EMEC. The company claims that the turbine is capable of generating enough electricity for 1,000 homes and is the first of a series of turbines to be deployed.

Atlantis Resources Corporation unveiled the AK1000 turbine at Isleburn Engineering in Invergordon, Scotland, where the system assembly took place. It will be transported from there to EMEC in Orkney later in the summer. Designed to withstand harsh weather and rough open ocean environments such as those found off the Scottish coast, the company says that the turbine will produce 1MW of predictable power at a water velocity of 2.65m/s – enough to satisfy the electricity needs of over 1,000 homes. The horizontal axis turbine weighs some 1,300 tonnes, stands over 73 feet (22m) high and has a rotor diameter of just over 59 feet (18m).

The 1MW AK1000 tidal turbine recently unveiled at Invergordon in Scotland

It's expected that it will have little or no impact on the environment due to the low rotation speed during operation and the unique twin rotor set with fixed pitch blades should eliminate the need for sub-sea nacelle rotation and so improve operational reliability.

Atlantis CEO Timothy Cornelius said that the turbine, "represents the culmination of 10 years of hard work, dedication and belief from all our partners, staff, directors and shareholders. The AK1000 is capable of unlocking the economic potential of the marine energy industry in Scotland and will greatly boost Scotland's renewable generation capacity in the years to come."

The AK1000 tidal power turbine is the first of a series produced by Atlantis Resources Cor...

The unveiling of the AK1000 was shortly followed by an announcement by Scottish Power that it has plans to install hundreds of tidal turbines in the coming years. Equipment manufacturer, Burntisland Fabrications has just been awarded a contract to build a full-scale tidal turbine prototype for Scottish Power which will pave the way for a 10MW tidal energy project off the west coast of Scotland.

Comments

Nanotubes boost potential of salinity power as a renewable energy source

In November 2009, Norwegian state owned electricity company Statkraft opened the world’s first osmotic power plant prototype , which generates electricity from the difference in the salt concentration between river water and sea water. While osmotic power is a clean, renewable energy source, its commercial use has been limited due to the low generating capacities offered by current technology – the Statkraft plant, for example, has a capacity of about 4 kW. Now researchers have discovered a new way to harness osmotic power that they claim would enable a 1 m 2 (10.7 sq. ft.) membrane to have the same 4 kW capacity as the entire Statkraft plant. The global osmotic, or salinity gradient, power capacity, which is concentrated at the mouths of rivers, is estimated by Statkraft to be in the region of 1,600 to 1,700 TWh annually. Electricity can be generated through the osmotic phenomena that results when a reservoir of fresh water is brought into contact with a reservoir ...

NES robot mash-up competes in robo boxing tournament

In a move that brings back memories of the R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) that was available for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Japanese hobbyist Izumi Ninagawa has simplified the controls of a modern fighting robot to work with a Famicom (8-bit NES) game pad – which has one of the most basic button configurations around. The NES-styled robot even competed in a robot boxing tournament earlier this year Ninagawa's XEMNES robot is based on a lightweight kit sold by De Agostini called ROBO-XERO , which weighs less than one kilogram (2.2 pounds) and is powered by 24 Futaba servo motors. By attaching a Bluetooth dongle to the robot with a special micro controller, Ninagawa was able to take advantage of various wireless controllers, including the Nintendo Wii remote. The remote was then hidden inside the shell of a Famicom, and attached to the Famicom controller using an adapter to complete the set-up. Despite the NES pad's limited number of buttons, variou...

Roadless wheel concept adjusts to all terrains

Graduate student Ackeem Ngwenya has combined the 6000 year-old wheel with modern materials to develop a new type of all-terrain wheel assembly that switches from narrow to wide tread at the turn of a screw. His Roadless wheel system, while envisioned for rural applications in his native Malawi, has the potential to be as big a change to road (and off-road) transport as was the introduction of anti-lock braking. We've all done it. Before embarking on a long driving trip on smooth-surfaced interstate highways or other roads of national importance, we'll raise the tire pressure to boost the gas mileage a bit. Stuck in the snow, mud, or sand? Let some pressure out of the tires to increase the contact area, while at the same time increasing the chances that the now floppy tire will grab hold. However, the benefits of trying to change the aspect ratio of a tire by simply changing pressure are rather minor, and often associated with a significant loss in tire lifetime. The Road...

ANBARASUASOKAN

Search This Blog