Dent Island Water Wall Turbine

This is fascinating and anyone familiar with the area will know the challenges.

Buddy towed this thing up to Dent Island from Duncan Bay, near Campbell River, on Monday and they have been trying to secure it ever since. It keeps busting loose.

It draws 12' and they had to lock the paddle wheel for towing so he said it was like trying to tow an island.

They took a ton of pictures and made a video of the gong show so far. Hope I can post some when the dust settles.

Water Wall Turbine Dent Island Tidal Power Generation Project | Natural Resources Canada

I think that generating power from tidal currents has some great potential in the PNW and BC. It is not a panacea, but there is a huge amount of unused energy there.

The city of Tacoma has had a study proposal ready to go since 2007 but has been put on hold due to environmental, engineering, and budgetary hurdles. However, each decade brings improvements in the technology. I wouldn't be surprised to see turbines below the water at the Narrows Bridge generating a small amount of power in the future. The City of Portland has a pilot project where they have put small turbines in the water mains to generate small amounts of local power.

The question is whether the power generated will be worth the initial capitol investment and the maintenance costs.

dhays; said:

The question is whether the power generated will be worth the initial capitol investment and the maintenance costs.

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Infancy right now.
As time goes on the economics will change.
This one had an engineering error so had to come back out.

Tremendous force at work...

Thanks for posting, this is very interesting. There was also a tidal power demo project down at Race Rocks about 10 years ago Integrated Energy Project Update | Race Rocks. It was a submerged turbine that was mounted on a steel pile drilled and socketed into the sea bed, and it worked OK from what I understand. I like the idea of this floating unit: much easier to maintain. It would be tricky to moor this to the seabed however. It must have involved some diver/underwater work to drill and anchor moorings to the seabed.

Tried a water turbine around here a few years back, inop more than operating.

Couldn't keep the silt from wearing out the underwater seals long enough..... hope this one has better luck as it is monstrous compared to the little gizmo I towed around.

Thanks for the heads up Tim. I'll try out those KWs in a few weeks. The Nordstrom's are innovators and great supporters of renewables.

Hawgwash said:

This is fascinating and anyone familiar with the area will know the challenges.

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Years ago, my wife and two friends stayed at the Dent Island Lodge for a night and were flabbergasted at the tidal flows. Logs, tree stumps, you name it, were passing by my friend's Nordhavn 57. The service at the lodge was the very finest!

Interesting... Just went through Dent Rapids on Sunday - I guess we missed the show by one day.

dhays said:

I think that generating power from tidal currents has some great potential in the PNW and BC. It is not a panacea, but there is a huge amount of unused energy there.

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There's a reason they call electricity "hydro" in BC

sunchaser; said:

I'll try out those KWs in a few weeks.

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Hah! You will if they can ever get 'er going. If Fury is still on AIS poking around the top end, you know it's still candle light dinners.

They did a temporary line ashore; a 3" Spectra.
Before she let go, the stress on a 2.5" bull rail with a half inch wall, flattened. The line on a cleat melted from inside out.

The good news is, unlike a boom or regular barge which, when set free, scoots across the water like a paper plate, this girl is so heavy she just sits and spins a bit.

While I appreciate the technical challenges of such a project, it sure doesn't make sense financially. Take the reported project costs of $5,179,000 Ca which is equal to US $3,900,000 and divide by the KW output of 500 and you get $8,000 per KW. Solar is less than half and has no real operating and maintenance costs.

Admittedly it does include a storage and energy management system which lets it provide power 24 hours a day but at a very high cost.

David

djmarchand; said:

...it sure doesn't make sense financially.

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Have patience, that could all change.

On the other hand...
https://youtu.be/ZuFdi79aTBc

sunchaser; said:

I'll try out those KWs in a few weeks.

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Well Tom, looks like Coleman Calamari for you.

They got that thing hitched yesterday.
Lasted an hour and a half before she bust free.
Back to the drawing board.