By Abigail Beck, Communications Manager for Marine Energy Wales
“Wales has done something that no one has done before,” Alejandro Marques de Magallanes says.
His strong Spanish accent is softened by flawless business English. This is a man very much in demand at the globe’s largest gathering of ocean energy professionals, ICOE-OEE, held on his home turf of San Sebastian last week. Yet he spares me twenty minutes for a story that makes for intriguing listening. How a company specialising in textiles from North West Spain, turned to tides and set their sights firmly on Wales.
He gestures to the Welsh dragon adorning the Marine Energy Wales stand where we are talking.
“What your country did is create the conditions for us to come, and that is amazing!”
The Wales-Magallanes story
Alejandro (second from left) meeting Welsh delegates at ICOE-OEE Conference in Spain
Magallanes Renovables is a family-owned business from Galicia, founded by Alejandro’s father in 2010. It’s a name fast gaining traction on the international ocean energy scene after landing a sensational coup this July.
In the first allocation round of its kind, Magallanes successfully secured a UK Government subsidy award through the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme to support tidal energy. The award was for Morlais, a tidal demonstration zone off the North West coast of Anglesey, and it means they will now become the first tidal turbine developer to deploy commercially in Welsh waters, powering up to 6,500 homes.
In simplest terms, the technology looks rather like two windmills turned upside down and secured under a boat. Unlike other tidal turbines that sink to the seabed, the Magallanes design floats on the surface, fixed into position with mooring lines and connected to a subsea cable.
“The idea of tidal turbines first came to my father when he was diving in the Straits of Gibraltar,” Alejandro explains. “He got carried away by the currents and really felt the power of the tides.”
After winning awards for engineering and innovation in the textile industry, Alejandro’s father began to experiment with researchers at the University of Vigo in Galicia to develop a turbine that could harness the power of the tides. What Galicia lacked in suitable sea conditions it made up for in industrial capability.
“At the beginning the scientists told him he was crazy, then one day he got a call saying there was a team in Scotland trying to do the same thing.”
Studying past failures became a core component of the Magallanes design. High maintenance costs were a common downfall, so they opted for a single structure with two rotors that can be reached through the mast.
Fast-forward a decade, and the end result is a full-scale prototype generating 1.5MW of power that has just finished a gruelling series of trials at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) at Orkney.
Three years of testing proved the concept works. It also demonstrated clearly where efficiencies could be made, from the optimum blade design to maximise performance, right down to the smallest details, like the mooring hook-up lines. Huge time and cost savings during installation can be gained simply by positioning them above rather than below water-level to make access easier.
Why come to Wales?
For an ocean energy developer, the 35km2 of seabed known as Morlais off the coast of Anglesey, is a dream location. Not only does it boast some of the best tidal currents in the world, it also alleviates a developer’s worst nightmare, as Alejandro explains.
“Once you choose a site, the next stage is securing a lease along with all the necessary consents and environmental assessments. This can take up to five years, but in Wales all that work has already been done. Menter Mon’s Morlais project created the perfect ecosystem, and that is why we are going there.”
Morlais Tidal Demonstration Zone off Anglesey
Morlais is a pioneering test facility, and the only one of its kind in the world. A pre-consented commercial scale testing facility where developers will be able to turn up and almost directly hook-up to the grid. Work is currently underway, with the site scheduled to be up and running by 2024. Magallanes will bring four tidal turbines, totalling 6MW, enough to power 6,000 homes. With the Contracts for Difference scheme coming into effect in 2025/6, they have until then to finish work on their new device. The design will take into account lessons learned, but also more aesthetic considerations, like shape and colour.
“We’re looking at grey and sleeker and closer to the sea level because we want the turbines to have less visual impact from shore,” Alejandro says.
Magallanes will be visiting Morlais early next month to meet suppliers and stakeholders. It seems likely a Welsh company base will soon follow, bringing with it more jobs and opportunities.
