Lockheed Martin [LMT] said last week it commenced a contract with the United Kingdom’s Atlantis Resources Ltd.
to optimize the design of its new 1.5-megawatt (MW) tidal turbine.
Designed to facilitate operation in highly-energetic tidal locations, the turbine, known as the AR1500, will be one of the largest single rotor turbines ever developed and will have active rotor pitch and full nacelle yaw rotation, according to a Lockheed Martin statement. The increased capability and functionality will initially support the MeyGen project in Scotland and 2015 deployment in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, which is located between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Tidal turbines work like an underwater wind turbine as the tides’ ebb and flow force the blades to spin, rotating the turbine and activating a generator that produces electricity. Tidal energy’s greatest advantage over other alternative energy sources, such as wind power and solar energy, is that it is almost entirely independent of the weather. Lockheed Martin said the movement of the tides can be accurately forecast for many years into the future.
Last year, Lockheed Martin and Atlantis entered into an exclusive teaming partnership to develop technology, components and projects in the tidal power sector on a global basis. Atlantis and Lockheed Martin have worked together for four years, most recently on the delivery of the Energy Technologies Institute Tidal Energy Converter (TEC) Demonstrator program, which is aimed at bringing a step-change reduction in the cost of deploying tidal turbines in commercial arrays.
The deal with Atlantic Resources continues Lockheed Martin’s venture into ocean energy projects. The company announced in February it signed a contract with Victorian Wave Partners to begin the world’s wave energy project, which Lockheed Martin said would be a significant step toward making ocean energy commercially available. The 62.5-megawatt peak power wave energy generation project will be built off the coast of Victoria, Australia, using the PowerBuoy wave energy converter technology of Ocean Power Technologies (OPT).
Lockheed Martin will provide overall project management, assist with the design for manufacturing the PowerBuoy technology, lead the production of selected PowerBuoy components and perform integration of the wave energy converters. This project is benefiting from a roughly $61 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) that was awarded to Victorian Wave Partners, a project-specific operating entity wholly-owned by Ocean Power Technologies (Australasia), which is 88 percent owned by OPT.
Lockheed Martin spokesman Scott Lusk said Tuesday the company’s venture into ocean energy projects fits with its mission as a global security company.
“We see energy as a national, and global, security issue,” Lusk said. “We bring high-level capabilities in complex systems integration, project management, information technology (IT), cyber security and advanced manufacturing techniques to help advance the alternative energy industry.”