Project Summary

This project aims to develop hydrokinetic electricity as an alternative energy source for existing carbon-intensive power production. The project will deploy two small-scale hydrokinetic demonstration units at a UK marina location to test their viability as an alternative energy source. The project will determine the projected cost of energy for hydrokinetic power generation and define a pathway towards its adoption to support the decarbonisation of small ports and marinas in the UK.

Project Achievements

Two small (200W) hydrokinetic turbines were specially designed, and deployed to a UK marina for a period of five-weeks. Each turbine system was linked to a full electrical power generation system, and used to provide charge to a battery. The turbines were deployed to the water using a shore-based gantry system, which leveraged some of the existing, unused infrastructure of the marina; in this case a floating pontoon. The project helped initiate and establish a relationship between AEL and Marina Developments Limited (MDL), one of the UK’s largest owners and operators of commercial marinas.

Conclusions

The project concluded that the deployment of hydrokinetic technology to existing shoreside infrastructure at small marina and port locations in the UK can provide an economically-viable method for helping these businesses to decarbonise their electricity supply. Hydrokinetic power generation is a cost-effective, scalable and environmentally non- invasive way of supplementing the existing wind and solar electricity generation adopted around the UK. Where hydrokinetic turbines can be deployed to continuously flowing riverways, the technology also offers the prospect of generating baseload renewable power. Deployment of 2,000 1.6kW-rated units could offset up to 5,000 tonnes CO2e/year.

Next Steps

➢Installation of a cloud-based monitoring system to enable remote monitoring of the power generation of the turbines, and water flow speed. ➢Design refinement of the turbine blades, using marine-grade aluminium instead of steel as the internal strength members to facilitate installation. ➢Design of commercial-for-production turbine gantry structures using marine-grade aluminium, and issue of Requests for Quotation (RFQs) to UK aluminium fabrication yards for costing. ➢Detailed examination of additional MDL marina sites for possible commercial turbine deployments. ➢To sign a contract for the supply of hydrokinetically-developed electricity with a commercial off-taker within a period of 12-18 months from the end of this project.