Marine Current Turbines says that full commissioning of the world’s first commercial-scale tidal turbine will be delayed until the early autumn after turbine blades on its SeaGen unit sustained damage during commissioning.
The UK-based company announced earlier in July that the 1.2 MW twin-rotor unit had briefly generated 150 kW of electricity as part of the commissioning work at Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland.
MCT says that the damage was sustained by two turbine blades on one of the unit’s twin rotors as a result of a computer fault in the control system. It has removed the damaged blades and is carrying out an investigation into the incident, which occurred on July 18th.
The unit’s other 600 kW rotor remains unaffected by the incident and will continue to undergo commissioning, generating electricity for the grid on a test basis. Work is already underway to replace the damaged blades, says MCT.
In a statement, MCT said: “Due to this event, the full commissioning of SeaGen will have to be delayed until the early autumn as one of the replacement blades is not immediately available and has a lengthy delivery lead time.
“The fixing of the new blades is expected to be routine and due to SeaGen’s innovative design they will be attached after raising the crossbeam and power units above the water, allowing for easy and safe access.”
MCT believes that the damage was caused by a combination of circumstances that can only arise during the commissioning process and says that there is no indication that the SeaGen design or operational capabilities are in any way compromised.
“Changes have already been made to prevent this particular problem from occurring again. The software is being extensively reviewed in the light of the problem,” says the company.
MCT said earlier in July that SeaGen’s power was being intentionally constrained to 300 kW during commissioning, and pointed to the challenging tidal environment.
“The marine environment poses a number of unique technical challenges, not least installing SeaGen in an extremely aggressive tide race,” said Martin Wright, MD of MCT.
SeaGen was installed in Strangford Lough in May of this year and commissioning work has been taking place since then, including the grid connection undertaken in partnership with Northern Ireland Electricity.
MCT originally envisaged completing the commissioning process by the end of the summer. The company’s next project is a proposed 10.5 MW installation off the coast of North Wales to be undertaken in conjunction with npower Renewables.
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