The industrial equipment group plans for the deal to help it market its first tidal stream products by 2012.
In their exclusive licensing agreement, the companies are to cooperate on global applications for Clean Current Power Systems' ocean and tidal stream technologies.
alstom Hydro said the agreement also covers additional cooperation on technology development and deployment of demonstrator units.
The Canadian firm designs and tests tidal energy devices, which are based on ducted turbines with blades capable of operating with bi-directional flows. It has envisaged tidal energy schemes, or “farms”, that would call for deployment of 20-500 turbines.
Clean Current Power Systems achieved proof of concept in 2004, and the technology is to be one of those to be deployed shortly with other demonstrator projects in the Bay of Fundy. The turbine is to have a 17m blade diameter.
