The Spanish firm Magallanes Renovables has announced that its prototype floating-tidal turbine is undergoing trials at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

The company has been developing the prototype since 2007, having already trialled previous prototypes in test tank and river conditions. Magallanes, which is based in Redondela in north-west Spain, decided to test its 1:10-scale model as a first step towards testing a full-scale prototype — 42m long and weighing 350 tonnes —next year.

The project is supported by Marinet (the EU-funded Marine Renewables Infrastructure Network), which was established to accelerate the development of marine re-
newable energy by bringing together world-class facilities to offer testing. The aim of Marinet is “to progress R&D at all scales — from small models and laboratory tests through to prototype scales and open-sea trials”.

EMEC is one of 28 partners in the initiative, which offers access to 42 testing facilities.

Managing director Alejandro Magallanes said: “This test project allows us to demonstrate the integrity and viability of the concept and its sub-systems in a real-sea climate, and
it helps to inform the construction of our 2MW floating platform to ensure a stable and optimal design. One of the most important steps was to discover maintenance needs, as well as gaining operational experience at sea.”

Eileen Linklater, EMEC’s client relationship manager, said: “There is a cluster of energy, maritime and environmental expertise around EMEC, with an experienced supply chain providing support to projects like this. We are grateful to the Marinet project for enabling Magallanes to benefit from access to the test site. Accessible real-sea testing allows marine-energy developers and suppliers to learn extremely valuable lessons about working in a real sea environment more cheaply.”