Minesto has taken delivery of the most distinguished part of the Deep Green ocean energy concept; the wing. It is the first one built for a Deep Green system in commercial scale.
The wing was delivered to Minesto’s team in Holyhead, Wales, by truck from Southampton, where it has been manufactured by Green Marine. Perhaps best known for building custom racing yachts, such as challengers for the America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race, Green Marine are also experts in building lightweight components in carbon fiber composites. In the manufacturing process of wing they have been assisted by Gurit, leading global supplier of composite materials and engineering services.
Prior to the delivery, factory acceptance test was performed at Green Marine with pleasing results. Among other things, fitting test was made to a nacelle dummy frame with the same interface as the commercial-scale Deep Green nacelle.
In parallel with the wing delivery, static and fatigue load tests have been performed on wing sections. All tests have been successful with results in accordance with calculations.
Assembly of various parts and joints has started and will continue during the autumn.
The commercial-scale wing measures 12 meters between the wingtips and 3.3 meters across the centre chord (wing depth). It is made from composite material, with inner beams in carbon fiber and an outer shell in fiberglass. Total weight is approx. 3 tons. The interior is filled with a foam with room for cabling, dry ballast and an adjustable dynamic buoyancy system. On the outside, the wing is fitted with sensors which, among other things, measure water flow velocity, kite speed and depth.
The hydrodynamic shape and properties of the wing design are the result of several years of technology development and simulations combined with scale model testing at Minesto’s test site in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. The objective for the development of the wing has been straightforward: to “fly” with as high precision and control as possible in order to maximize power production performance.
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