Marine energy developer Minesto has completed the first offshore installation phase of its tidal energy project in the Faroe Islands.
The company says that the gravity-based foundation for the power plant has been installed at the site in Vestmannasund.
The foundation structure will provide the connection point for Minesto’s DG100 tidal kite system. It was designed and fabricated by Leask Marine in Orkney, UK, and consists of a base frame and a number of doughnut-shaped ballast weights.
The next installation phase involves the sub-sea export cable that distributes electricity generated by the powerplant to the electric grid operated by Minesto’s partner SEV.
“We are very pleased to have the first sub-sea hardware in place. The operations team has managed to safely progress the offshore installation campaign, adapting the plan to overcome both unfavourable weather conditions and logistical challenges related to the ongoing pandemic,” said David Collier, COO at Minesto.
When installed to the foundation, the bottom joint of the kite system provides a pivoting connection point for the tether, allowing the kite to operate freely in its automatically controlled figure-of-eight trajectory. This enables the system to generate predictable renewable tidal electricity.
