Tidal Sails

Tidal Sails has a unique patented concept of capturing the energy in ocean tidal streams. Formed in 2004, the Norwegian company is based in Haugesund, on Norway’s southwest Coast in a region flush with marine engineering excellence from the offshore oil and gas industries. The area is home to a world-class subsea technology cluster. Tidal Sails is also global in its approach, as more than 99% of the world’s tidal stream energy resources – its future market – are outside Norway and unexploited. These resources represent at least seven to ten times Norway’s total power production.

Using strings of underwater sails, invisibly moored across the tidal stream, Tidal Sails can achieve unmatched efficiency in energy capture over other concepts that use turbines expensively installed in the middle of the stream. This technology advantage translates to the lowest cost and the highest profit potential in this exciting segment of the clean energy business.

Tidal streams contain huge amounts of energy which could be significant and highly predictable sources of renewable clean electricity. Tidal Sails power plants are fully submerged, leaving these often pristine and beautiful spots of nature with no visual impact

Exploiting the streams

The use of the underwater sails to convert energy is a radically new solution for exploiting tidal streams. A tidal sail power plant uses a number of submerged sails affixed to cables, which span the tidal stream at a specific angle. The sails are moved by the tidal flow back and forth between two stations, driving a generator that produces electricity. This technology differs fundamentally from any other proposed method of renewable electricity generation and offers three basic key advantages compared to underwater turbines used by other developers:

• The effective area exposed into the tidal stream is a function of the total area of the moving sails and can therefore be made very large. This results in a more efficient capture of energy,

• The sails can span across any depth, as only the end stations moorings need to be fixed near the shore,

• The sails move slowly (slower than the current) and horizontally so that mechanical stresses, friction and risks to marine life and shipping are minimised.

Combined with its overall simplicity, these features gain significant cost advantages compared to other proposed solutions for tidal stream energy. The commercialised power plants will be fully submerged installations, constructed in a modular fashion by combining several sets of strings into a “farm”. The end stations can be held in place by conventional moorings. Their closeness to shore and natural buoyancy makes servicing straightforward, further reducing costs.

Tidal Sails’ research and development, working with industry and academia in several countries, has so far achieved worldwide patenting and verification of the basic concept and the launch of the company’s first small-scale model in a real tidal stream in 2007. The company is entering its next exciting phase, which will bring sail-based tidal stream power to full technical qualification within three years and create the first market-ready power plants. Outside of Norway, the major markets for tidal energy around the world are in the British Isles, north America, and east Asia.

Commercial potential

Despite its small size, the company employs a range of highly skilled managers and contributors from research and development, engineering and business backgrounds. In September 2008, Tidal Sails took on a full-time Technology Director, Mr Terje Onerheim. With 20+ years of experience from Norway’s off-shore supply industry, Terje Onerheim, a mechanical and electrical engineer, states: “I am excited not just about the whole principle of this fascinating new technology, but also about the fact that it is really possible to produce environmentally clean energy from tidal streams. And I will do my best to realise its commercial potential”.

Until today, Tidal Sails has been financed by private individuals, with new small investors continually getting on board. Some public support comes from the Norwegian Research Council and Innovation Norway. The latter characterised the company as a “lighthouse for other start-ups” when it was awarded its official incubator status. The company is actively seeking major investment capital for its next growth phase and is currently preparing a share issue. With recognition of its business potential growing globally, Tidal Sails has recently received positive evaluations on international project applications, and expects to announce new European collaboration efforts soon.

Tidal Sails is also starting to show on the radar of the global clean-tech investment community. Recent reports in the financial news has attracted attention from major banks and investors. In September, an exclusive documentary about Tidal Sails was aired as part of CNBC business TV’s popular “pre-market” morning news and talk programme “Squawk Box”. In the report, Tidal Sails’ President, Cmdr Børgesen as well as its Chief Scientist, Prof. Torgrim Log and VP Dr Jan Hanssen, explained how sails capture energy, featuring interviews and shots of the pilot plant made on location in Norway supplemented by computer animations.

See www.cnbc.com for details about the programme. The video clip is available for download from www.tidalsails.com.

W: www.tidalsails.com