Bespoke cable solutions provider Tratos has welcomed news of the world’s most powerful tidal turbine hitting peak power last month (April 2017).
The tidal turbine, developed and manufactured by Scottish Engineering Company, Orbital Marine Power, which employs a bespoke Tratos cable solution, reached full rated power at the European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney.
Tratos originally supplied its cable system for ScotRenewables’ SR2000 2MW tidal turbine testing programme in 2015. After undergoing grid connected commissioning works prior to Christmas last year, the SR2000 was re-connected to its subsea cable and, following energisation, the 500-tonne floating tidal turbine commenced generation of power export to the local Orkney grid.
Since then the turbine has been undergoing a phased testing programme leading to full, 2MW rated export capacity being achieved on 12th April.
Tratos’ cable system integrates existing power and communications technologies into a combined, robust solution for challenging tidal environments. The innovative system sees power and fibre optic cable combined to power the tidal system hook-up.
The system consists of a 6-10kV, 3 core, armoured cable, designed to maintain integrity while being moved around in harsh conditions, including bend restrictions to prevent damage under the sea. All cable meets IEC standards 60228 and 6052-2 and is manufactured in Italy.
ScotRenewables’ SR2000 tidal turbine is a leading floating tidal technology designed around the use of low cost vessels for all installation, maintenance and decommissioning operations. All offshore operations were delivered with small crew transfer vessels or locally based workboats.
