Minesto concentrates on the Faroe Islands

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MINESTO.

This plan will mitigate supply chain delays and at the same time allow Minesto to take advantage of signifcant synergies and new opportunities for more cost-efective operations, electricity production under an existing Power Purchase Agreement, and hence a quicker route to commercial roll out.

Minesto’s frst D4 unit will go straight into continuous grid-connected operation in Vestmannasund, Faroe Islands during the frst half of 2022 as originally intended. To optimise the timeline, Minesto has decided to also install the second D4 (100kW) and the larger D12 (1.2MW) units in Vestmannasund during 2022, rather than deploying them for demonstration testing in France and Wales, as originally planned. “We are confdent that this restructuring of our ongoing projects is the best way forward. This is the most value-creating use of investments, both private and public, in our EU-funded collaborations with the Welsh European Funding Ofce and the Interreg Tidal

Stream Industry Energiser Project. The funding agreements for these projects remain the same, and so does our commitment to develop an 80MW commercial array of North Wales”, says Dr Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto. ”Streamlining our installations to one location brings signifcant synergies in terms of risk reduction, logistics, and costs. It is the fastest approach to demonstrate the upgraded powerplant performance, to generate revenues, and to enable large-scale buildout of arrays in multiple locations.”

This decision mitigates potential project delays from the supply chain. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been uncertainties and delivery challenges which are more efciently managed by concentrating operations to one geographical site. The new project plan allows for back-to-back commissioning and concurrent operations of the two D4 units and the following D12 utility-scale unit. This will enable Minesto to generate electricity production data from longterm, grid-connected operations for use in all ongoing collaborative projects. Mr Edlund states, “Our collaboration with SEV (electric utility company on the Faroe Islands) continues and their role in providing grid connections, consenting, on the ground support and simply being the world’s frst advanced customer of Deep Green tidal energy is of signifcant value to us. Not to mention that the three units will produce electricity under the existing Power Purchase agreement.” Furthermore, Minesto’s collaboration with its French partners also continues, with focus on deliverables within the TIGER project on cost of energy reduction roadmap and demonstration of the low environmental impact of operations. In Wales, the work now focuses on assembly and in-factory testing of the commercial scale 1.2MW D12 unit and key supporting systems such as bottom joint and installation frames. Production data from this system will support the ongoing site development work towards the buildout of an 80MW array in Holyhead Deep.

Minesto’s marine energy technology generates electricity from low-fow tidal streams and ocean currents by a unique and patented principle similar to a stunt kite fying in the wind. The 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 fgure of eight, pushing the turbine through the water. By doing so, the turbine experiences a water fow several times higher than the actual stream speed. The turbine difuses power to the generator which outputs electricity via power cable in the tether. Seabed umbilical transfers the electricity to an onshore connection. Minesto’s Deep Green technology has been undergoing extensive ocean testing since 2013. In 2018, Minesto successfully commissioned its frst commercial-scale system in Holyhead Deep, Wales. With the 0.5MW DG500 device, Minesto could verify functionality, validate ofshore operations procedures and generate electricity for the frst time with a commercial-scale unit. In 2020, Minesto reached the milestone of delivering electricity to the Faroes Islands’ power grid from the DG100 tidal kite system.