It is envisaged that a commercial unit could have a pair of turbine
runners some 20 metres in height and 3 metres in diameter situated
within their cowlings. This could give an installed capacity in excess
of 2MW with water current velocities of 4 metres/sec. Due to
the daily variations of current velocities the load factor of an efficient
tidal turbine is unlikely to be much greater than 35% of the nominal
power.
The Way Forward
Significant commercial interest is now being expressed in tidal current
generation. Several designs are under development both in North America
and in Europe. The UK is the leading country in this field and the
directors of Tidal Turbines are confident that their design has great
potential and that it will be the preferred turbine for many sites.
They are actively seeking to identify suitable industrial and financial
partners to take the project forward and would be pleased to hear
from any interested parties.
