Program:
SHARKS
Award:
$4,429,986
Location:
Santa Barbara, California
Status:
ACTIVE
Project Term:
08/12/2021 - 02/11/2025

Technology Description:

The Tidal Power Tug is a tidal hydrokinetic turbine using a vertical yawing spar buoy with a horizontal-axis, parallel-flow rotor. The turbine will achieve stable, safe operation in all sea conditions with unprecedented cost performance gained by use of novel materials, vertical mass-buoyancy distribution, high power-to-weight ratio, efficient deployment/retrieval, adaptive controls for blade pitch and shear compensation, and advanced analytical tools for efficient operations and maintenance. These factors will result in high turbine up-time. R&D involves structural material innovation, hydrodynamic modeling, coding the adaptive controller, designing O&M analytical tools, and designing and deploying a prototype turbine in a tidal stream. The turbine will be designed for power delivery to remote and local grids. It will operate autonomously, with a remote supervisory control and data acquisition computer providing data analysis and operator input to the onboard controller. The control system will be able to prioritize maintaining the lowest cost of energy, increasing component life and maximum available energy.

Potential Impact:

Hydrokinetic energy is an abundant renewable energy source that presents unique opportunities and benefits.

Security:

Diverse renewable energy resources can boost grid resiliency and reduce infrastructure vulnerabilities.

Environment:

HKTs, used to capture energy from tides, rivers, canals, and ocean currents, optimize a clean, renewable power source that could help reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Economy:

Hydrokinetic energy has applications beyond solely providing power to electrical grids. It is ideally suited to the emerging technologies and markets built upon ocean- and riverine-based infrastructure, including climatological observation, aquaculture, desalination, ocean floor and seawater mining, disaster recovery, powering isolated communities, and autonomous underwater vehicle support.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Mario Garcia-Sanz
Project Contact:
Mr. Henry Swales
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
hswales@aquantistech.com

Related Projects


Release Date:
04/09/2020