Tidal Sails Add to the Rising Wave of Free Energy Machines

Combining ancient sailing knowledge with cutting-edge technology, the Norwegian-based company Tidal Sails AS have developed an ingenious way to extract kinetic energy from the tides to produce the lowest cost electricity in the entire market.

Formed in 2004, the company is privately owned and based in Hagesund, Norway. Its founder Are Børgesen, now 53, spent most of his life as a commercial pilot after being trained in the Royal Norwegian Army Officer’s Candidate School. Since founding Tidal Sails, Mr. Børgesen has devoted himself to research and development based on his knowledge and experience in sailing regattas, and now has 4 principle patents to his name for wave and tidal technology.

Harnessing Slow Moving Currents

The key to Tidal Sails’ success is in harnessing slow moving currents. Most companies producing this technology would cite 8-10 knots as the lowest possible speed to produce electricity. With the ropeway technology developed by Tidal Sails, named TackReach, there have been successful demonstrations of generating considerable power from sea and river currents as slow as 4 knots.

To put this in perspective, 99% of the ocean is moving at under or around 4 knots at any given time, so while other companies with turbine technology are relying on finding tidal hotspots above 4 knots to harness power, with Tidal Sails, it is possible to generate electricity much more easily.

The Secret Behind The Mechanics

So how does it work? Well, rather than relying on traditional turbines, essentially, the power generator consists of sheets of aluminium forming extruding sails, which are connected to a wire rope strung across the tidal stream. It extends to 15m depth, and the sails reach and tack with the current to produce the maximum amount of energy possible from the two freely suspended power stations attached to them.

Due to the large surface area and the adjustability depending on the location, tidal speed and direction of the current, the sails have the capacity to produce much more cost efficient energy than any other tidal power solutions currently on the market.

The best part of this is that the technology auto-adjusts, so the sailor doesn’t have to be concerned with knowing how to most effectively deploy it in any given current.

Based on the speed of the current, the sails will autonomously move, and in situations where the full surface area is not needed because the current is strong enough, excess power is siphoned away so that the system is not overloaded.

Award Winning Idea

Tidal Sails has already won awards for sustainability and development, even though currently, the technology has only been involved in demonstrations and test rigs.

There have been several well-known partner companies involved in the project after its initial inception and testing: Doppelmayr have developed the friction-proof wiring system, Norwegian Sapa created the sails, German Setec were responsible for the power systems, Austrian Teufelberger for the ropes, and Norwegian Global Maritime for the installation of all the constituent parts.

Tidal Sails, backed by the Norwegian Coastal Administration and with a letter of intent from a UK developer, now has its eye on the commercial market, and expects the first power plant to be up and running by 2020, delivering electricity at the low cost of €0.05/kWh.

Find out more at: www.tidalsails.com

Posted by: First Class Sailing