Swedish tidal-energy developer Minesto (minesto.com) recently hosted a study visit from members of the Maestrale project, which aims to lay the basis for a Maritime Energy Deployment Strategy in the Mediterranean.
The delegation — comprising representatives from Southern Europe energy agencies, universities and other institutions engaged in marine energy — visited Gothenburg and Minesto as part of the process of benchmarking marine-energy technologies that could be applied in the Mediterranean area.
Minesto’s CEO Martin Edlund said: “The Mediterranean is an example of an area where our product — thanks to its unique characteristics — has the potential to exploit a resource that other marine-energy technologies cannot.
“The meeting was a good exercise for us to learn more about the market potential for Deep Green in Mediterranean waters.”
Minesto’s technology has been designed to produce electricity from low-velocity ocean and tidal currents. The device consists of a wing that resembles a kite, and the power is produced when the water current creates a hydrodynamic lift force on the wing which pushes the kite forward.
The kite is steered in a figure-of-eight trajectory by a rudder, and as the kite moves, the water flows through the turbine “with magnified power”, producing the electricity via a gearless generator.
The goal of the Maestrale project (part of EU’s Interreg MED Programme) is to promote the development of ‘blue energy’ in the Mediterranean area as a key sector for sustainable growth, while preserving the “environmental and cultural values” of the Mediterranean area.