THE NEW Delta Stream Hydro turbine, which is to be located at Ramsey Sound, has not been moved due to problems with the weather. Held at the Bridge Innovation Centre in Pembroke Dock, members received a presentation on the project and were told that the turbine is currently standing at Pembroke Port, waiting to be moved into position.
Operations manager for Tidal Energy Ltd, Clive Adshead, told members of Tuesday’s Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee that the vessel, a dumb barge, which will take the turbine to its location, cannot operate in heavy seas. Clive Adshead said: “It’s been very frustrating to still see it sitting there after the work we did in the first three quarters of last year.
“We’ve had to change the control system but that meant we missed the fantastic weather in September and October, hence it is still sat on the quayside now because we’ve not been able to match tide and weather. “Because of the installation vessel we’ve got to do it at a neat tide, the flow is too much in a spring tide to hold it on its moorings all the time. “Short term savings seem to be good but if they restrict how you can move forward, and that’s what’s caused us the problem at the moment, not being able to get the device in the water because the installation vessel isn’t capable of operating in very heavy sea states”.
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