MaREI @ NUI Galway put the largest load ever on a tidal energy turbine blade – the weight of 10 double decker buses

Our MaREI @ NUI Galway colleagues believe that they have put the largest load ever on a tidal energy turbine blade in their Large Structures Test Laboratory

This is equivalent loading to the curb weight of approximately 10 double-decker buses.

The blade was co-designed using their in-house BladeComp software with Orbitalmarine and it was manufactured by local Galway company EireComposites.

They are currently testing the same blade under equivalent life fatigue loading to confirm that it has at least a 20 year design life. When completed, this will also be the first – largest tidal blade in the world to have undergone full fatigue life testing.

The work has been financially supported by Science Foundation Ireland, EU H2020, SEAI and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science through various research programmes such as Flotec, MaRINET2_EU, and OCEANERANET.

Excellent news, Jamie! Clearly a step in the right direction. Is there any work that adapts similar technologies to create more efficient, river-based turbines? Or is that a dead end as far as sustainable energy production is concerned? I'm looking at Galway's rivers + canals!

— ulf strohmayer 🇪🇺☮︎🌍 (@fromgalway) October 15, 2020

Yes, there are river-based technologies being developed. We've tested for @ORPC_Inc on their device. Blades manufactured in #Galway by @EireComposites & shipped to #Alaska, where it is deployed: https://t.co/6b9GiK35hQ We've also worked with other tech developers @GKineticEnergy

— Jamie Goggins (@GogginsJamie) October 15, 2020