Financial boost for ocean current energy project

The EU has granted EUR 2.5 million to a new project which aims to produce electricity from tidal streams and ocean currents.

The project is a partnership between Faroese national energy provider SEV and Swedish marine energy technology developer Minesto.

According to SEV, the grant will be used to install two so-called Deep Green kites in the Vestmannasund strait between Streymoy and Vágar.

An untapped renewable energy source

Minesto’s Deep Green technology produces electricity from slow tidal streams and ocean currents by sweeping a small turbine across a large area at a speed several times the actual speed of the underwater current.

SEV’s CEO Terni Nielsen says that the EU grant will help speed up the search for a new sustainable energy source in the Faroe Islands.

“The project will continue for another two years, and if the kites produce sufficient amounts of energy, SEV may start using it as part of the national electricity grid within a few years, provided that it is financially and technically viable,” he says.

Translated by prosa.fo