According to official studies, the theoretical worldwide generation potential of tidal energy has been estimated at over 7,800 TWh/year. Working to support the growth in this emerging sector of the renewable energy industry, tidal energy experts from GL Garrad Hassan are aiding Kawasaki Heavy Industries in the development and deployment of its 1MW prototype tidal turbine by providing technical information and guidance on tidal resources and technologies.
Mr. Hiromitsu Kiyose, Project Manager of Kawasaki Tidal Energy Project said “It has been helpful to get support from GL Garrad Hassan, which has an excellent reputation in the renewable energy sector world-wide and indeed experienced in consulting business, for our development of the 1MW prototype tidal turbine. We will be pleased to keep our relationship with GL Garrad Hassan for further development work.”
In October 2011, Kawasaki Heavy Industries announced plans to install a 1MW prototype tidal turbine at the European Marine Energy Test Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland/UK. The technology is currently under development at Kawasaki’s Akashi facility. GL Garrad Hassan’s tidal turbine design software, Tidal Bladed, and newly-developed site data analysis toolbox have helped to facilitate the project. From initially providing a tidal stream training course in March, its experts went on to deliver a number of work packages for Kawasaki which utilised GL Garrad Hassan’s specially developed software tools to deliver analysis of site metocean data, support in load case definition and independent checking of load calculations.
Dr Robert Rawlinson-Smith, Head of GL Garrad Hassan’s Tidal Energy Group, said of the project: “Supporting Kawasaki has been a real privilege. It has provided us with the opportunity to utilise a broad range of internal tools to support a world-renowned industrial power house. The arrival of large power sector manufacturing companies in the emerging tidal energy arena is very positive. As well as sending out a strong message about the potential future of the industry, they bring a wealth of experience and financial backing that could deliver a significant and welcome shift in the pace of development.”
Drawing on their prior field experience at the EMEC site, and knowledge of tidal stream foundations and installation processes, GL Garrad Hassan’s experts also undertook a construction and installation review and continue to work on the development of a device controller. They are also undertaking a supply chain study.