Funding for the demonstration project, to be deployed in Pembrokeshire’s Ramsey Sound, was secured from the European Regional Development Fund via the Welsh government.
In total, Tidal Energy has secured £11m to manufacture and deploy the DeltaStream device, the balance being provided by majority shareholder Eco2.
Cranfield University, which for the past three years has provided specialist design support to the project, will continue its research and development work and will also play a role in the deployment of the prototype, overseeing condition monitoring and the performance of the device.
In operation, DeltaStream sits on the sea bed without the need for a positive anchoring system and generates electricity from three separate horizontal-axis turbines mounted on a common frame.
The device — which will provide electricity to homes in the city of St Davids during its 12-month demonstration period — has been designed to be installed and maintained with minimal impact on the environment.
In its 2010 Low Carbon Energy Policy Statement, the Welsh government suggested that the deployment of tidal and wave devices off the nation’s 1,200km coastline could provide as much as 4GW of electricity, with the ambition for this to be installed by 2025.
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