Neptune Renewable Energy has announced the development of a breakthrough tidal power generator, which will undergo sea trial at Hull early next year. The generator dubs the action of Proteus,which consists of a 6m x 6m vertical axis, crossflow turbine mounted within a patented, symmetrical Venturi diffuser duct and beneath a very simple steel deck and buoyancy chambers. Similar to Proteus,the £1 million, 150-ton generator is being claimed to be 30% more efficient than conventional hydro dam designs and can provide a continuous supply ofrenewable energy.

The state-of-the-art generator features a steel hull, turbine and buoyancy chambers, which allows it to work equally well in ebb and flow tides. The system consists of a vertical axis cross-flow turbine mounted within symmetrical venture diffusers that efficiently convert tidal energy into electricity.

NREL has selected the Humber Estuary for the first deployment of Proteus, as given its depth and tidal flow, is considered one of the best locations in the British Isles for tidal stream power. Once deployed, the advanced Neptune Proteus NP1000 should generate at least 1000MWh of electricity each year.

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Sweden-and Uk- based Minesto, has developed a new concept called Deep Green "Underwater Kites"; which uses hydrodynamics to harness tidal currents and makes the flow velocity to increase ten times.

The lite spins in a repeated manner by the force of the tidal current. This process will increase the flow speed entering the turbine ten times. When the tide hits the wing it turnsdown, and creates a little force. The kite is mounted to the ocean bed with a tether and is controlled by a rudder trajectory. This system will use a conventional plant to convert the movement onto electric power.

According to the company, the Deep Green Kite has a wingspan of 12 meters depth at sites with a tidal flow of 1.2 - 2.2 meters/second. The company estimates it'll cost Euro 0.06 - 0.14 per KWh. The company is now preparing to build a scale 1.4 prototype of the technology, which will be ready in 2011.

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Edinburgh based Artemis Intelligent Power has been awarded £1million under Phase1 of the Low Carbon Energy Demonstration capital grants scheme to develop its Digital Displacement technology to replace the mechanical transmissions of wind turbines.

The technology will be initially demonstrated for a 1.5MW transmission but the Digital Displacement components developed will be directly transferable for multi-megawatt offshore deployment. Digital Displacement Hydraulic Transmission are gearless, making them lighter and lower cost than mechanical transmissions.

Digital Displacement uses different principles to off load unused capacity, in a manner which results in very low parasitic loss and because of the speed this is done, it can be controlled with a high bandwidth with good linearity and low hysteresis.

Waverley Cameron, chairman of Artemis Intelligent Power, said: "The Artemis Digital Displacement technology will provide cost effective solutions to some of the most challenging engineering problems facing the large scale deployment of offshore wind, wave and tidal power generation."

Its Digital Displacement technology has been able to overcome many of the efficiency problems traditionally associated with hydraulics and was originally developed for use on cars as a hybrid system, storing braking energy as hydraulic pressure in an accumulator, which can then be used for acceleration. The system improved fuel efficiency by 40%.

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Gold Coast company Tidal Energy has developed a turbine that can produce potentially limitless clean electricity from water currents.The design includes a submerged water-current turbine similar to a jet engine. It draws water through a hydrofoil system to turn an impellor that converts the kinetic energy of the water into mechanical energy that can power an electrical generator. It resembles a wind generator under water.The technology could add to existing power sources, not replace them at this stage.

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John Bays says his invention could save him tens of thousands of dollars. Bays has built a "tidal Venturi hydro-electric paddle wheel". He tested the paddle wheel out on the Intracoastal Waterway and sure enough....it worked. Bays floated the paddle wheel down to this waterfront residence, where he says he'll eventually connect the paddle wheel operation to his house and generate energy.

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