Orbital Marine Power manufacturers the world’s most powerful floating tidal turbines. The 680-tonne tidal turbine named O2 will unlock tidal markets around the world at a competitive price point and provide regulators and investors with a new, predictable renewable energy option.”
source/image(PrtSc): Orbital Marine Power Ltd
The Orbital O2 will comprise of a 73m long floating superstructure, supporting two 1 MW turbines at either side for a nameplate power output of 2MW, at a tidal current speed of 2.5 m/s.
With rotor diameters of 20m, it will have a 600sq metre rotor area, the largest ever on a single tidal generating platform to date. The steel structure of the turbine has been simplified to reduce fabrication costs and futureproof the product for volume manufacturing.
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The new configuration also reduces the draught of the unit to less than 3m to ensure this utility scale machine can be towed and installed with modest sized workboats.
For the first time, Orbital Marine Power’s system will feature 360 degree blade pitching control. This will allow safe, dynamic control of the machine’s 20m rotors and will enable power to be captured from both tidal directions without need to yaw the entire platform. These controllers will support the installation of even larger blades in the future./orbitalmarine
