Tidal turbine to light the Thames

The turbine (pictured) will sit on a pontoon and will provide a floating test and measurement laboratory. On this will be an array of sensors and monitors, including a TorqSense wireless torque sensor from Sensor Technology. "To say that this is a harsh environment for laboratory equipment is a bit of an understatement," says Rod Bromfield, senior lecturer, of the faculty of engineering at the university." The turbine under test has been developed by Hales Marine Energy near Eastbourne and is expected to be deployable in tidal seas as well as rivers. The design application of the turbine is to sit on a submergible tank on the sea bed and can be floated up to the surface when required. The university says the design is almost infinitely scalable: the unit under test is 1m diameter and produces about 1kW; 5m turbines suitable for inshore deployment would generate round 20kW; smaller units would be ideal for river use. "The critical measurement is torque, as this indicates the power we can derive from the system," Bromfield says. "We had to be certain that we would get continuous measurements over an extended period of time, because we need to map power production against actual river flow. Also for this technology to succeed in the emerging green power market it must be capable of continuous and predictable energy production." Bromfield says that he could envisage an array of his turbines on every headland along the English Channel and at intervals down the Thames. "Of course, that is just the start. The simplicity of the design, its robustness and low maintenance, relative ease of installation all add up to making it suitable for deployment in remote and less developed areas. Its low ecological footprint addresses many of the issues raised by environmentalists. Its continuous and utterly predictable power output overcomes the intermittency associated with wind, wave and solar power. "When, over the test period, people stand on Richmond Bridge and watch a modest array of lights bobbing about on a buoy, they may not know it but they will be seeing the future."