HydroQuest and CMN have been developing an innovative demonstration project since 2016 for the marine turbine sector. Selected following the “Renewable energies at sea and pilot river turbine farms” call-for-projects, funded by the French government as part of its Investments in the Future Program and operated by Ademe, this project is expected to confirm the performance of the “HydroQuest Ocean” tidal turbine generator under real operating conditions, prior to international commercialization.
Currently being assembled at CMN workshops in Cherbourg, the “HydroQuest Ocean” marine turbine is 25 meters wide and 11 meters tall, with technology featuring two vertical axes and generators outside the production flow. The dual vertical axis means there is no need to orient the unit to capture the current stream.
The turbine offers efficient hydrodynamic output with nominal power of 1 MW.
The turbine will be completed by CMN workshops before the end of 2018, with installation scheduled to begin in April 2019. Commissioning of the turbine at EDF’s Paimpol-Bréhat site is scheduled for the spring of 2019 for an initial period of 12 months.
“In parallel, we are awaiting for the Ministry of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition, to launch the first commercial turbine farm call-for-tender in Raz-Blanchard, off the Cotentin coast, and Fromveur, off the Finistère coast in France. These projects will accelerate cost reductions across the industry,” said Jean-François Simon, CEO of HydroQuest.
