Why
The always present tide in the sea offers a great amount of kinetic or movement energy. The SeaQurrent company has developed a method for using this energy. The TidalKite™ makes it possible to generate clean electricity in a reliable and efficient manner.
How
The TidalKite™ consists of a seven-metre high and twelve-metre long kite. The kite is attached to a hydraulic cylinder using a cable below the surface. By flying the kite perpendicular to the tide, enormous tensile forces are created used to pull out the cylinder, which powers a hydro-engine and a generator to create electricity.
One kite has the capacity of providing around 700 households with electricity. A scale model of the technology was tested in a tide trench near the Afsluitdijk.
When
The SeaQurrent team started developing the TidalKite™ full-time in 2015. The team collaborates with Eize Stamhuis, a professor in fluid mechanics at the University of Groningen. The TidalKite™ was tested in the Waddenzee in 2018 and 2019. A true-to-size demonstration model was created in 2020, and a test configuration of the TidalKite™ was created in the Borndiep near Ameland.
If the tests go as expected, the demonstration model will supply its first electricity to Ameland in 2021.