Tidal Turbine Test Site Installed in Cape Cod Canal Complete

BUZZARDS BAY – The installation of a tidal turbine test site by a nonprofit dedicated to helping develop marine renewable energy technology has been completed in the Cape Cod Canal.

The Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative finished installing pilings and a platform near the Buzzards Bay railroad bridge which will allow companies to test energy generating turbines in tidal flows around 5 knots.

“The facility looks great and we’ve been getting a lot of comments from people who might be interested in coming here,” said John Miller, the collaborative’s executive director. “We’re very hopeful.”

The test site will be able to test turbines up to 3 meters, or 10 feet, in diameter and will help developers save money by not having to build their own facilities.

“In this industry the cost of doing a test site involves an awful lot of permitting and doing something in the ocean is difficult,” Miller said.

“Our idea is to develop pre-permitted test sites that allow developers to come in and be able to test in a very cost effective manner.”

The test site is operational now and could house turbines right away. “It’ll take a while to develop all the instrumentation that goes with it,” Miller said.

Internet of Things Impact Labs, a New Bedford-based company, will install a data acquisition system on the test site.

Miller said the site has two objectives. One of which would be a transition site for companies testing small turbines in tanks to build larger turbines, about 10 meters in diameter, for full scale deployment.

“Going from a tank to a full scale site is a big chance and there have been some disastrous consequences where people have lost all of their blades as a result,” Miller said. “We are a transition where they can get a device in actual ocean water and test it.”

There is also a market opening up for distributed generation for smaller turbines in smaller rivers or inlets.

“[They] might want to have one turbine that can generate 100 kilowatts perhaps, and this site is perfect for that size,” Miller said.

Miller hopes the site can draw at least three companies per year to test turbines.

He believes the site could be an attraction for companies. In Europe, companies move to larger scale test sites.

“They put a device in. They have a problem. They have to pull it out and they have to change something. They put it back in,” Miller said. “Having at least an office in Buzzards Bay will be important for them to be able to use the test site on an ongoing basis.”

The goal is to have engineering companies move to the area so they can develop turbines and manufacture them here to be shipped to other locations.

Piles were driven about 40 feet into the seabed near the railroad bridge on the mainland side of the canal and extend above the water line. A platform was then built to raise and lower a turbine for testing into and out of the water.

“There was a day or two where we had a little delay because of rocks,” Miller said. “There’s always obstructions in the mud.”

Construction crews worked around the problem and ended up moving the installation about five feet from where it was originally planned.

Miller said the canal is fairly constrained in size and would not be a location for a permanent tidal turbine installation.

“For the most part the size of the canal is pretty marginal for the size of ships they are taking today,” Miller said. “The Army Corps of Engineers is concerned, and should be, about doing anything that would inhibit traffic through the canal. It’s much too important of an asset to the entire nation.”

A feasibility study is underway for a potential project to install small energy generating tidal turbines in Muskeget Channel between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

“We’re looking at doing a 5 megawatt development out there initially but it grow to perhaps 20 megawatts,” Miller said. “We are looking at a number of interesting new technologies being developed and those are the kind of technologies that could be tested here before being scaled up for full scale in Muskeget.”

The collaborative hopes to have a company come to the site in the next month or two.

“We have a few leads here and there. There’s companies and individuals we are talking to,” said Evan Franks, the site test manager.

The site will also be used for testing instrumentation and sensors – not just turbines.

“There are other types of sensors and instrumentation that companies around here are interested in using the platform for,” Franks said.

The collaborative hopes to have the data center installed with high bandwidth connectivity and power over the next week or two.

“We are going to get out there Monday if the weather eases up a little bit and be able to put the data center on the platform sometime next week,” Franks said.

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

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