What makes the Deep Green technology different from other tidal energy technologies is the wing, the size of the turbine and the fact that the power plant is “flying” under water. The wing pushes the turbine through the water in an eight-shaped trajectory, sweeping a large area at a relative speed that is several times the actual speed of the underwater current.
The speed has a cubic relationship to the power production. This means that when a Deep Green power plant multiplies the relative speed which the turbine is pushed through the water, the electricity produced by the generator is several hundred times greater compared to if the turbine would be stationary.
By adding this step of energy conversion, Minesto expands the global ocean energy potential.
The composite wing uses the hydrodynamic lift force created by the underwater current to move the kite. With onboard control system and rudders, the kite is autonomously steered in a pre-determined figure of eight, pushing the turbine through the water. By doing so, the turbine experiences a water flow several times higher than the actual stream speed.
The turbine diffuse power to the generator which outputs electricity via power cable in the tether. Seabed umbilical transfers the electricity to the onshore connection.
By combining different wing spans, generator sizes, and tether lengths, Minesto can offer power plants that are customized to different applications and customer needs. The current product range in development stretches from 4–12 meters wings, with rated power ranging from 100 kW to 1.2 MW.
A light and strong FRP structure with a CNC kitted Divinycell foam core withstands the forces generated when the kite circulates under water at high speed. Together with Elitkomposit – a Swedish Composite manufacturer, Minesto has developed the sandwich composite structure. Diab has supported the solution to optimize the geometry/fitting of the Divinycell foam core to best address the manufacturing process.
