Unleashing the Power of the Ocean
Voith Hydro and RWE Innogy have formed a joint venture, known as Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies and both partners will accelerate the development, manufacture and marketing of ocean current technologies.
Voith Hydro has been active for many years in the research and the development of the emissions-free power generation from the oceans.
Dr. Hubert Lienhard, CEO of Voith AG:
“We are absolutely convinced: ocean current power stations, and hence renewable energy from the seas, will be an important building block within the energy mix of the future. The cooperation of two partners of such a high caliber is a milestone in the development and the marketing of this young technology. Our common goal is to make ocean current technology competitive as quickly as possible. This is why the close partnership between project developer and plant operator is of special importance to us.”
Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, Chairman of the Board of RWE Innogy, is equally convinced of the potential of ocean current technology:
“This form of renewable power generation has a significant advantage: ocean currents flow continuously and can therefore be predicted with maximum accuracy. As a result, the volume of electricity fed into the grid can be forecast much more precisely than that of any other renewable energy carrier. It is therefore imperative that its potential is tapped.”
Voith Hydro has been working on ocean currents technologies since 2005. By the end of this year, the first 110-kilowatt prototype will be deployed and tested off the South Korean coast. This initial test plant will form part of a planned power station project that will generate electricity from ocean currents to produce several hundred megawatts, with further test plants to follow in Europe.
The company also plans to construct a 4 megawatt wave power station off the Scottish coast this year. Additionally, there are plans for the construction of a 10.5-megawatt ocean current power station off the Welsh coast in 2012.