The platform features the ability to lift the SITs out of the water for easier maintenance. Source: Sustainable Marine Energy

Sustainable Marine Energy and Schottel Hydro have completed installation of the PLAT-I tidal energy platform in Connel Sound in Scotland. The system is designed for inshore tidal sites to provide power at a community scale and to establish tidal energy as a viable clean energy alternative for coastal areas and islands with limited infrastructure.

PLAT-I is a multiple turbine floating tidal energy platform hosting Schottel Hydro's turbine system rated at 280 kilowatts. The power take-off system comprises four Schottel Instream Turbines (SIT) and an accessible power conversion system hosted in an on-board container.

The innovative design of PLAT-I facilitates easy and low-cost transport, assembly and launching close to the intended deployment site. Installation, including tow-out, was completed in under five hours using Green Marine’s multicat vessel, Green Isle. The platform features the ability to lift the SITs out of the water, enabling easy access for ongoing maintenance and reduces the depth of water required for launching and tow-out.

Following the conclusion of testing in Scotland, PLAT-I will be disassembled and transported to South East Asia, where it will be delivered to Envirotek Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based clean-technology investment company, for redeployment as part of a grid connected first commercial demonstrator array project in the Philippines.