Minesto, leading ocean energy developer, today announces that a key milestone has been reached: The utility-scale tidal powerplant Dragon 12 – rated at 1.2 MW – has been successfully commissioned and, in the early morning of February 9, delivered its first electricity to the national grid in the Faroe Islands.
The Dragon 12 is Minesto’s first tidal energy kite in megawatt scale. It has now been successfully commissioned and has generated electricity at satisfactory levels in its first phase of operation. The 12-meter wide and 28-ton heavy subsea kite, anchored with a tether to the seabed, is steered in an 8-shape flight trajectory powered by the tidal flow. Dragon 12 is a 10-times scale-up (from the existing 100 kW Dragon 4) that delivers competitive performance and cost levels for the build-out of large-scale commercial subsea parks of tidal powerplants.
Videos of the Dragon 12 are available at Minesto’s YouTube channel: Minesto – YouTube