Tidal array cost reduction: Testing a removable nacelle design for DeltaStream Technology

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The tidal renewable energy sector is at a stage where it is going to expand with larger devices and arrays of devices. An estimation of nearly 4GW of installed capacity by 2020 is likely by 2020, enabling the sector to make a serious contribution to the energy requirement. Moving the sector forward from its current infancy still requires evelopment of fundamental aspects of the technology in order to provide greater cost efficiency. One particular area is to significantly reduce the cost of deployment and recovery for maintenance. Given the harsh environment in which the devices are deployed and the costs associated with the vessels, the speed of recovery is essential to reducing the life costs associated with the energy generated over a device lifetime.Hence the urgent need to reduce the installation and maintenance costs of the DeltaStream system. The current project proposes an effective wet-mate nacelle removal system for cost-effective installation and recovery.Cardiff University will assess the lifting dynamics involved in lowering the turbine from the surface of the sea onto the structure and evaluate the connection aspects of the novel design of the Deltastream. Integrated with physical testing by the project partners, the data will provide feedback to the industrial partner to assess any modifications needed to the proposed designThis Work Package focuses specifically on the modelling the dynamics of lowering the turbine from the surface of the sea into the wet-mate socket. Specifically Ansys software will be used for the modelling. The outputs of the workpackage will also provide feedback to the component testing and final device assembly undertaken as part of the overall project.