Efficiently increasing flow speed

TIDAL POWER IN IRELAND:A TIDAL ENERGY company spun out from Swedish car and plane manufacturer Saab plans to deploy its underwater kite-like devices off the coast of Northern Ireland next year.

Minesto believes that unlike many existing tidal power devices, its niche technology - Deep Green - can be deployed in areas that have slow water currents.

This means it can generate electricity more efficiently - and cheaper - than other types of devices, therefore enabling more sea areas with the potential to generate tidal power to be exploited. In the UK alone this means that potentially up to 18 Terawatt hours of tidal energy - enough to power about 3.8 million homes - can be generated.

With technology that originates in Saab's wind division, the kite-like part of the Deep Green device helps to increase the flow speed of water entering a turbine as the tide hits its wing.

The devices are attached to the ocean bed with a tether and can be controlled by a rudder so they point in the right direction. A conventional piece of equipment then converts the kinetic energy into electrical power.

"Co-operation between the private sector, universities and the government has been inspirational. Our aim is to offer green electricity at a future low cost to citizens of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK," said Anders Jansson, chief executive of Minesto.