Sabella tidal stream turbine injects electricity again into the Ushant grid
03.06.2022
After the successful re-immersion of the D10 turbine in April 2022 and its reconnection to the Ushant island electricity grid, the third test and production campaign of this tidal turbine has started as planned after a period of testing and adjustments.
The improvements made to the turbine over the last few months, in particular the modification of the turbine’s export connections and the smoothing of the electrical production on land, have been a success and now allow the turbine electricity production to be injected into the grid.
This smoothing function, developed in partnership with the Syndicat d’Energie et d’Equipement du Finistère (SDEF), and the company ENTECH, within the framework of the European Interreg ICE project (led by Bretagne Développement Innovation), had never been tested in situ before.
This innovation is a major advance, given that the electrical production of a tidal turbine generates brief disturbances of the signal induced by natural swell movements or current turbulence, particularly present in the Fromveur Passage, which must be regulated in order to be able, in the future, to rapidly deploy marine technologies on a large scale.
The smoothing function will greatly improve the quality of the electricity injected into the island’s grid and thus ensure stable operations for the operator ENEDIS.
The injection of green electricity from the D10 turbine into the island’s grid will gradually increase over the coming weeks in coordination with ENEDIS, from 100 kW to the maximum injection capacity allowed by the grid. In addition, the tidal turbine will supply green energy to the Ilophone 2022 festival which will take place next September in Ushant, after two years of interruption due to COVID-19.
Fanch Le Bris, Managing Director of SABELLA, states: “The main innovation tested during this new campaign at sea is of course the smoothing function of our electrical production, which should guarantee the network operator ENEDIS a constant quality of electricity injected into the Ushant Island network. We are very satisfied with this technological development, with performance exceeding the operator’s requirements. This success augurs well for our future projects in non-interconnected areas which will require the implementation of this type of function to secure these networks which are often more fragile than the large interconnected networks.“
Thomas Archinard, Project Manager at Sabella, adds: “This campaign also aims to prepare the PHARES project, which consists of providing the island with a renewable energy package, including two 500kW Sabella tidal turbines, in order to make it more autonomous in green electricity. More specifically, we will focus on better understanding the site’s environment with a view to the deployment of future commercial farms.”