Giant Deep Ocean Turbine Trial Offers Hope of Endless Green Power
An Anonymous Coward writes:
For more than a decade, Japanese heavy machinery maker IHI Corp. has been developing a subsea turbine that harnesses the energy in deep ocean currents and converts it into a steady and reliable source of electricity. The giant machine resembles an airplane, with two counter-rotating turbine fans in place of jets, and a central 'fuselage' housing a buoyancy adjustment system. Called Kairyu, the 330-ton prototype is designed to be anchored to the sea floor at a depth of 30-50 meters (100-160 feet).
[...] The advantage of ocean currents is their stability. They flow with little fluctuation in speed and direction, giving them a capacity factor - a measure of how often the system is generating - of 50-70%, compared with around 29% for onshore wind and 15% for solar
[...] Still, the Japanese company has a long way to go. Compared with onshore facilities, it's much more complicated to install a system underwater. "Unlike Europe, which has a long history of the North Sea Oil exploration, Japan has had little experience with offshore construction," said Takagi. There are major engineering challenges to build a system robust enough to withstand the hostile conditions of a deep ocean current and to reduce maintenance costs.
"Japan isn't blessed with a lot of alternative energy sources," he said. "People may say that this is just a dream, but we need to try everything to achieve zero carbon."
If it's endless and free, it has no value? /s
For a lot more technical detail and pictures, see this IHI Corporation white paper: Power Generation Using the Kuroshio Current
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.