Alaskan company will take modular prototype to Cape Cod Canal, where currents of up to four knots will allow the evaluation of electricity generation, durability, reliability, and interaction with wildlife before commercial advancement
A new modular tidal turbine will be tested in the Cape Cod Canal, Massachusetts, where currents of up to four knots will allow the evaluation of electricity production, system durability, and reliability in real marine conditions.
Tidal turbine will be installed in the Cape Cod Canal
Sitkana, a marine energy company based in Alaska, has begun preparing to deploy its latest prototype at the Bourne Tidal Test Site, known by the acronym BTTS.
The facility belongs to the Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative, MRECo, and is located in the Cape Cod Canal. The artificial waterway is 11.9 kilometers long and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.
-
Who would have thought? A century-old cell in an old Australian prison swaps prisoners for bottles of wine, takes advantage of bluish stone walls about 50 centimeters thick to keep the temperature stable, and ends up being sold for A$ 81,000 after attracting more than 40,000 views on the internet.
-
Apple reaches $5 trillion in market value and a strategy that many doubted now places the company among the largest in history
-
As China tries to contain the impacts of typhoons and floods, a wave of fake videos produced by artificial intelligence is rapidly spreading, causing panic, hindering the work of authorities, and exposing a new risk of AI technologies for disaster situations.
-
BYD Shark loses more than R$ 100,000, leads depreciation among hybrid pickups, and explains why not all technology guarantees appreciation in the used market.
The strong tidal currents found in the canal will allow engineers to monitor the turbine’s behavior during open water operation. The goal is to obtain data that will help bring the technology closer to commercial deployment.
The campaign will measure electricity production and evaluate the operational reliability and structural durability of the prototype. Engineers will also observe how the equipment responds to continuous exposure to ocean currents.
According to Sitkana, the tests will provide important information to determine if the system can achieve the performance and resilience needed for future tidal energy generation projects.
“These tests are crucial as we move towards commercial deployment,” said Lance McMullan, the company’s founder and CEO.
Modular system uses small and combinable units
Conventional tidal energy technologies employ large multi-megawatt underwater turbines. These devices are fixed to the seabed and harness fast currents to produce electricity.
The installation of these traditional turbines requires expensive and specialized offshore vessels. Sitkana’s proposal follows another configuration, based on small modular units that can be integrated to form larger arrays.
The model aims to facilitate system scaling according to the needs of each project. The configuration also reduces the reliance on large structures and complex equipment during deployment.
The concept aims to simplify maintenance and make tidal energy more viable for remote coastal communities. The company wants to develop equipment that is easier to build, transport, install, and maintain in these regions.
“Our goal is to make marine energy easier to build, deploy, and maintain in remote areas,” stated McMullan.
The testing phase will be used to verify if this modular proposal works under the demands of a real marine environment. The results should guide the next steps of the technology before its commercial launch.
The system will also be monitored over time. This way, engineers will be able to analyze both the immediate energy performance and the effects of the prototype’s permanence under strong and continuous currents.
Structure accommodates turbines up to three meters in diameter
The Bourne Tidal Energy Test Center is installed in approximately seven meters of water. Its platform is supported by three piles in a stretch where currents exceed 1.5 meters per second.
A central articulated arm allows for the installation, retrieval, and access to turbine prototypes up to three meters in diameter. This structure allows the equipment to be removed from the water for inspections and other necessary interventions during testing.
The BTTS is located near the headquarters of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. According to the information presented, it is the only commercial open-water facility available in the country for companies developing and testing tidal turbines.
The unit was built to enable controlled and low-cost evaluations in real ocean conditions. Its location in a narrow stretch of the channel favors the occurrence of the necessary currents to subject the prototypes to demanding conditions.
Water speeds at the site can reach up to four knots. With this, developers can observe the full operation of the equipment outside the controlled laboratory environment.
“The BTTS is one of the few places where we can evaluate our entire system in a single location,” said McMullan.
Tests will also observe possible interactions with wildlife
In addition to measuring energy performance, the team will collect information on the turbine’s interactions with local wildlife. This observation will occur while the prototype is operating in the marine environment.
“Besides measuring energy performance, we will be able to observe operation in a real marine environment and better understand interactions with wildlife,” stated the founder of Sitkana.
MRECo recently completed improvements to the BTTS structure. The interventions received support from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Ocean Innovation Network, the MassCEC.
The changes include improved data collection systems, expansion of testing infrastructure, and greater capacity to deploy prototypes. Preparations were also made
