Schottel Hydro has announced it is to deliver 16 of its 62kW SCHOTTEL Instream Turbines (SIT) to Sustainable Marine Energy (SME) for use in the company's platform array in Scotland, off the Orkney Islands.
Following successful sea trials in the Solent in summer 2015, the first PLAT-O system, which hosts two SIT, will be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in 2016.
The next generation PLAT-O system will be large enough to host four turbines each. Four of these platforms will be deployed in 2016/ 2017 to complete the array. The installed power output of the array will be 1MW and will be directly fed into the Scottish power grid.
During the sea trials off the Isle of Wight, SIT and PLAT-O have successfully proven to be a perfect match, Schottel said, with both the turbines and the platform designed to be lightweight, robust, stable and simple.
The SITs have a rotor diameter of four meters and are designed as downstream turbines which are self-aligning to the flow. The SIT design and features hydrodynamically optimized passive-adaptive composite blades with no need for any active pitch mechanism. Their drive trains are standardized with a two-stage planetary gearbox, an induction generator and a mechanical brake.
The scope of supply for Schottel also includes the power electrics for the turbines and the interface management between turbines and platform.
"With this system we offer SME a simple "plug and play" solution for their PLAT-O platforms. We are very proud to be part of this project with 16 SIT turbines sold. The PLAT-O system provides SCHOTTEL HYDRO with a route to market and we expect to deliver many more SITs to SME for these systems in the near future," said Niels A. Lange, Managing Director of SCHOTTEL HYDRO.
PLAT-O is placed under the surface of the water and can flexibly adjust to the place with the strongest current. Besides a marker buoy, the system is not visible on the surface and ships can pass safely overhead. The buoyant platform is taut moored to the seabed using a tailor made anchoring solution that has also been developed by SME.
