Tocardo OTP

Tocardo Acquires the Largest Tidal Array in the World

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Tocardo has come to an agreement on the acquisition of the 1.25MW Oosterschelde Tidal Power Plant, the largest tidal array in the world installed on the Dutch icon Oosterscheldekering. The acquisition follows the successful technical due diligence phase during September 2020. The project is an important step for the global tidal energy sector and for our clean energy future.

The Oosterschelde Tidal Power Plant consists of five T-2 tidal turbines in one of the sluice gates of the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier, with the potential of scaling up. It serves as an international showcase for the tidal energy sector and climate adaptation solutions, combining clean energy production with existing infrastructures and making efficient use of scarce land area.

“At Tocardo we are looking forward to taking this unique project forward to the benefit of the local area in terms of jobs, supply chain development and making an impact to the net zero targets. This exemplar project will be run as a R&D facility and shop window for similar global developments which provides significant export opportunities” – Andries van Unen, CEO of Tocardo.

The timing of the transaction couldn’t be better for the company, especially now that national and local politicians are paying renewed attention to the potential of energy from water in The Netherlands. Dutch Minister Wiebes (Economic Affairs and Climate) has a roadmap to electricity from water in 2030 drawn up, which should be ready before the end of this year.

Tidal Stream Power Generation

Tidal energy is reliable and predictable, and therefore offers flexible baseload energy that powers households when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. Beside a significant reduction of CO2 emissions, tidal energy also contributes to a reduction in the emission of all other types of greenhouse gas, such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These gases are released during the combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, to produce power. Dutch technology developers estimate the technical potential for tidal energy in the Netherlands at 150-250 MW.

Oosterschelde Tidal Power Plant

The entire Oosterschelde Tidal Power Plant consists of five T-2 tidal turbines supplied & designed by Tocardo. These turbines are installed on a single hydraulic lift frame designed, constructed and supplied by Huisman in late 2015. Commissioning was completed with commercial full operation commencing in August 2016. Despite the limited possibilities as a result of the global COVID 19 outbreak, constructive consultations have been held with the parties involved to create a broadly supported solution surrounding the preservation of the installation in the future. The management of Tocardo is therefore grateful to all parties involved for their constructive attitude shown during this period.

The Project

The completion of this deal has cost a lot of effort over a long period of time, which is testament to the work put in behind the scenes by the Administrators, Tocardo and Rijkswaterstaat (operator of the Delta Works Barriers). Tocardo also received support from Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC) in helping to present the case for preserving the project.

About Tocardo

Tocardo is fully owned by HydroWing Ltd. and QED Naval Ltd. This tripartite, collaborative partnership brings together decades of multi-sector expertise as well as a blend of well tested, complementary products. The joint venture provides a truly end to end service with a spectrum of turbines, foundation systems, marine operations, as well as design, support and service expertise. Tocardo is one of the world’s leading tidal turbine developers renowned for the robust and reliable turbines resulting from a development history spanning the sectors entirety, over twenty years ago, and the largest portfolio of projects operated by any developer in the sector.

Jeremy Smith, MD QED Naval: “This is an amazing opportunity for Tocardo to demonstrate its wares and capabilities. It is also a great platform to introduce further innovations to improve the performance of the turbines and reduce costs. All this whilst producing clean renewable energy into the Dutch electricity grid and generating revenue to sustain the business allowing it to grow rapidly. The size of the prize is significant in Holland but massive when put in the context of a global market opportunities this project opens up.”

Richard Parkinson, MD HydroWing: “Our main objective in taking over the operation of the OTP project is to gain an understanding of how the turbines can be developed and to inform financial models for integration into commercial projects worldwide. This platform is an excellent test bed to develop the turbines while maintaining low OPEX and informing future design developments. Well done to our CEO Andries van Unen for making this complex deal happen.”

Britta Schaffmeister, CEO DMEC: “This marks an exciting stepping stone for the tidal energy sector. Now home to the world’s largest tidal array, the Netherlands is becoming a true frontrunner in harnessing the power of water. Lessons learned here will prove instrumental for more game changers in tidal energy.”

#1000 Solutions

Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label for our technology

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#1000solutions

Tocardo’s technology has received the “Solar Impulse Efficient Solution” Label, an award for clean and profitable solutions. Thanks to our expertise, our strong portfolio of products and our commitment to reliable, sustainable energy solutions our tidal energy turbine technology was attributed the “Solar Impulse Efficient Solution” Label following an assessment performed by external independent experts and based on verified standards. It is thereby joining the #1000solutions challenge, an initiative by the Solar Impulse Foundation to select solutions that meet high standards in profitability and sustainability and present them to decision-makers to fast-track their implementation.

Renewables have grown rapidly in recent year, but in many cases intermittency of supply remains an issue. Tidal energy offers a solution to this by providing a dependable power source that can support and enhance existing green energy solutions. Tocardo’s tidal turbine solution makes use of the tides and river streams to propel blades and offer customers local, predictable and balanced power generation. With the worldwide tidal market potential being 500 GW, tidal power innovations such as Tocardo’s turbines hold huge environmental and economic potential.

To receive the “Solar Impulse Efficient Solution” Label, our technology was thoroughly assessed by a pool of independent experts. According to five criteria covering the three main topics of Feasibility, Environmental and Profitability. All labelled solutions are part of the #1000solutions portfolio that will be presented to decision-makers in business and government by Bertrand Piccard, Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation. The aim of this initiative is to encourage the adoption of more ambitious environmental targets and fast-track the implementation of these solutions on a large scale.

About the “Solar Impulse Efficient Solution” Label

One of the first labels for positive impact businesses bringing together protection of the environment and financial viability, the “Solar Impulse Efficient Solution” Label is attributed following an assessment performed by external independent experts. In collaboration with renowned institutions, solutions applying for the label must go through a neutral methodology based on verified standards. This label serves as an award for clean and profitable solutions.

About the Solar Impulse Foundation

The Solar Impulse Foundation is dedicated to accelerating the implementation of clean and profitable solutions. Moreover, the Foundation is helping decision-makers in businesses and governments to achieve their environmental targets and adopt more ambitious energy policies, which are necessary to pull these solutions to market. A way to carry the success of the first solar-powered flight around the world further.

What is the impact of tidal energy on the environment?

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Greenhouse gases
The most important advantage of sustainable energy, of course, is that it is better for the environment. One of the major drivers for tidal stream power generation is combatting climate change by reducing the CO2 emissions by being: a 100% renewable, 100% reliable and 100% predictable energy source. Every kWh of power generated by ‘tidal’ saves ~1,000g CO2, compared to the same power generated by diesel. Diesel power generation is often used in remote island communities and has a carbon intensity of 250g/kWh which, when coupled with the relevant plant efficiency of ~25% gives an effective carbon intensity of 1,000g/kWh. Beside a significant reduction of CO2 emissions, tidal energy also contributes to a reduction in the emission of all other types of greenhouse gas, such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These gases are released during the combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, to produce power. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, tidal energy has no air emissions, such as soot and fine particles, which are related to human cancer, heart and lung damage as well as mental functioning.

Noise and vibrations
The few studies that have been undertaken to date to identify the environmental impacts of a tidal power scheme have determined that each specific site is different and the impacts depend greatly upon local geography. What has been studied in the Netherlands so far? No underwater acoustic measurements have been carried out near the existing turbines in the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier. Depending on their spectrum and source level, and on local propagation conditions, the sounds produced by the turning turbines may or may not have an effect on porpoise behaviour. However, porpoises are expected to cross the barrier only at and around slack tides, when the turbines are not moving and are thus not producing sound. If sound produced by the turning turbines is audible to the porpoises in the vicinity, it will either add an extra barrier effect, or help the porpoises to locate the turbines and thus avoid colliding with them. In the past we’ve also studied noise nearby the Tocardo turbines in the Dutch icon the Afsluitdijk; on site it appeared that the noise from the turbines was practically imperceptible.

Sea life
One of the important issues with sites were high flow rates occur is that marine mammals commonly visit and feed in these areas. During the years 2015 – 2016 no correlation with the amount of grey seals and normal seals counted (increase / decrease of numbers) in the Eastern Scheldt and the presence of tidal turbines was identified. Tocardo strives to produce fish friendly, innovative turbine solutions. In April 2019 a fish mortality was executed at the Afsluitdijk during the operations of three (3) T-1 Turbines, in front of the turbine the current velocity was 2.5 m/s. The results of the tests with smolts and silver eel are in accordance with the outcome of the model calculations, as for both species the immediate mortality is 0.00%. No turbine related injuries of fish were observed, although fish clearly interacted with the turbine blades.

Subhub
The optimized solution to have a minimum impact on the environment is by making use of a seabed mounted system so it is invisible from the surface and maintains the seascape and navigation channels of shipping, and it is beyond the diving depth of most birds. Tocardo’s business partner QED Naval has developed the Subhub platform to avoid having any negative impact on the environment: one of the key design drivers for Subhub is to minimise the environmental impact of the platform.

HydroWing Ltd

Tidal Hydrogen Production Storage and Offtake

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HydroWing in partnership with Tocardo is delighted to introduce the THyPSO (Tidal Hydrogen production, Storage and Offtake), a n innovative and novel concept that creates green hydrogen from the sea, contributing to the wider global decarbonisation of energy systems.

THyPSO is a floating platform, housing 1 – 6 conventional bi-directional tidal turbines that convert tidal flows into electrical energy, which is then directed through an integrated hydrogen production unit, converting the unlimited supply of surrounding seawater into hydrogen, an energy-dense and versatile commodity.

THyPSO has capacity to hold up to two weeks’ worth of hydrogen production in pressurised storage tanks. Offtake is scheduled autonomously by remote communications and discharge occurs within a single slack tide. A simple and safe procedure using an offtake vessel moored down-stream of the device, connected via a pressurised delivery hose.

Hydrogen is a much more versatile commodity than electricity, it can be stored and used for a wide range of applications, eliminating carbon emissions from maritime transport, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, tourism, leisure, Petro-chemicals, road transport, rail transport and grid balancing.

THyPSO combines the advantages of tidal and hydrogen technologies, mutually overcoming technical and financial barriers faced by each technology alone. By being autonomous of the grid and eliminates expensive and high-risk subsea infrastructure, creating substantial savings on OPEX and CAPEX, as well as installation and decommission.

Another key issue with producing electricity from any renewable source is the intermittency of production. By producing hydrogen instead of electricity, the offtake and onward distribution can be actively managed and scheduled to suit weather windows and market demands at the time. Consenting, installation, and decommissioning are other areas where substantial time and costs can be saved.

The THyPSO project will demonstrate streamlined implementation of tidal energy projects with a view to upscaling and rolling out larger projects across Europe and the rest of the world in the coming years in line with the ever-growing demand for green sourced hydrogen.

Richard Parkinson, Managing Director, HydroWing Limited: ‘This project has shifted our focus to a broader and exciting market where we can make use of our tides to provide a more versatile energy mix into the local communities and beyond. I sincerely hope that we can inspire greater use of green hydrogen in the marine sector as a result of this project.’

Andries van Unen, CEO, Tocardo B.V.: ‘This project provides a new perspective and a versatile use for tidal turbines. The project is well suited to the range of Tocardo turbines allowing us to effectively scale up as demand for green hydrogen increases into the future.’

QED Naval and HydroWing acquire Tocardo Tidal Power

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In the midst of Brexit and a new decade, QED Naval and HydroWing are delighted to announce a new collaborative European joint venture and with it the acquisition of Holland’s premier tidal turbines business, Tocardo.

This tri-partite, collaborative partnership brings together decades of multi-sector expertise as well as a blend of well tested, complementary products. This new and innovative joint venture provides a truly end to end service with a spectrum of turbines, foundation systems, marine operations, as well as design, support and service expertise.

Tocardo’s technology development started in 1999 in cooperation with the Energy Research Foundation ECN and various Dutch engineering companies. First prototyped in 2005, Tocardo has an unbeaten track record of continuous tidal power production for nine years in a row. Since then it developed turbines and associated technologies, achieving 90% – 100% energy yield performance. Tocardo has 9 turbines in continual operation and has 21 patents in place. A focus on reliability, with very low operations and maintenance costs has resulted in industry leading levelised costs of energy (LCOE). Tocardo’s turbines are direct drive, i.e. without a gearbox or mechanical pitch mechanism. They have a patented, smart rotor bi-blade design, which enables it to be bi-directional with a guaranteed 20-year lifetime.
Tocardo will continue to deliver its state of the art, reliable turbines and after-sales support. It will now also be investing in additional turbine development. This will be done in partnership with QED Naval and HydroWing, who bring a combined 50 years of marine design, development and operations experience, along with their experience in foundation systems, LCOE and yield improvements. The companies have already been working in partnership on tidal projects in Europe and will be expanding on this as they further develop their complimentary technologies.

The overriding vision for this new joint venture is to harness the decades of tidal expertise within the three companies, to finesse the tried and tested turbine and foundation technologies with some novel ideas, and to really drive down costs, particularly in terms of LCOE. The partnership now aims to take their technologies and develop them at a larger scale and is currently interested in hearing from like-minded project partners. Richard Parkinson, CEO of HydroWing: “This bigger, long term, end to end vision is quite unique in that it brings an unrivalled pool of expertise and collaboration across European tidal energy. The new joint venture is committed to expand and will be introducing their combined technologies in new projects starting in 2020.” Andries Van Unen, CEO of Tocardo: “We didn’t get to this point alone. In joining all these forces together there has been some great vision, hard work and expertise. We are very grateful to all parties who have helped get this partnership over the line: namely investors, existing customers, the hard-working staff and project team. We are now in the fortunate position to have a geographically greater market presence and team with some of the most talented experts in the industry behind us which can build on the technologies and results achieved over the years. We really can’t wait to show you some of the exciting projects and innovations we are working on.” Jeremy Smith, CEO of QED Naval Ltd: “All three companies are very excited to announce this exciting recipe and European partnership which will takes the key ingredients of tidal technologies developed over the last 12 years, great turbines and foundation systems, spiced up with some of the industries great minds to deliver great value reliable tidal solutions.”