Inyanga details advances in Morlais tidal energy development

Inyanga Marine Energy Group provided an update Dec. 16 on its planned deployment of 20-MW HydroWing tidal energy technology at Morlais on the island of Anglesey, north Wales.

Each of the 20 HydroWing units will be powered by two Tocardo T3 turbines.

Inyanga secured 20 MW of capacity for the project at Morlais via the UK government’s contracts for difference scheme allocation rounds 5 and 6 (AR5 and AR6) process.

“The all-in-one HydroWing system is based on a modular approach, which dramatically reduces capex and installation costs," CEO Richard Parkinson said. “Firstly, the modular substructure comes in road-haulable sections, which can be rapidly assembled quayside for installation. The T3 turbines can also be easily transported and installed… all the HydroWing components will fit in containers for easy, low cost transport.

“Additionally, the well proven wet mate connection system from the transformer hub to the export cable allows for instantaneous plug-and-play connection. The two micro-pile fixings on each foot of the substructure are lightweight and low cost, and can be installed by small workboats. We estimate that there is an up to 60% saving in fixation costs, increasing rapidly with scale. What’s more, the patented HydroWing Quad Barge also has a modular design, enabling operations and maintenance costs to be minimized too.”

The T3 turbine blades (each 600 KW with a 14-m rotor diameter) are said to benefit from passive pitch and a gearbox that can generate optimal yield, he added, while the 19-m-tall nacelle allows the turbine to maximize yield in optimal flow conditions.