Minesto announced it has completed the initial commissioning tests of its Deep Green subsea kite technology off the coast of Holyhead, North West Wales.
These initial sea trials have allowed the company to test and verify a range of functionalities, including the kite control system, launch and recovery system, connections and communications.
The DG500 kite produces energy from tidal streams and ocean currents.
Minesto says this technology is “ready to commence ‘flying’ full subsea trajectories.”
Thus, the next step in developing this technology is continuing the commissioning program to achieve the above milestone and verify the power take-off system and electricity generation.
The technology in a nutshell
From Minesto:
“Imagine that you are standing on a beach, flying a kite in the wind. You feel the strong lift force from the kite in the rope as the wind tries to carry the kite away. As you move the kite sideways, you notice that it flies fast — way faster than the wind is blowing.
If you would attach a turbine to the kite and put it in the ocean, where a water current flows instead of the wind blowing, you would have the concept of Deep Green.
What makes Deep Green different from other tidal energy technologies is the wing, the size of the turbine and the fact that the power plant is “flying” under water. The wing pushes the turbine through the water in an eight-shaped trajectory, sweeping a large area at a relative speed that is several times the actual speed of the underwater current.
The speed has a cubic relationship to the power production. This means that when Deep Green multiplies the relative speed which the turbine is pushed through the water, the electricity produced by the power plant’s generator is several hundred times greater compared to if the turbine would be stationary.”
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