Control & Instrumentation Technology for Offshore Power Generation System

Part of the Coda Octopus Group of companies, Martech Systems design and develop high performance custom electronic systems for demanding applications in the defence, aerospace, offshore, nuclear and medical industries. With 20 years experience, Martech's engineers combine electronic, software and mechanical design skills to deliver complete solutions to complex technical problems for mission critical applications, often in hostile environments, where design integrity, reliability and quality are of paramount importance.

As part of this project, Martech are developing and manufacturing the instrumentation, acquisition and telemetry suite, including all sensors, to monitor the turbine's performance, and allow control of the turbine.

The concept of harnessing tidal streams relies on the same principles as a wind-turbine, in that a rotor spins to generate electricity, however, instead of wind driving the rotor, a tidal stream turbine uses water. Fast flowing water is found in rivers, estuaries and tidal flows and its energy can be converted by the turbine into electricity. It is predicted that this technology will provide a large proportion of the UK's energy requirements. The Swanturbines concept is lowering the cost of tidal stream energy and some very important advantages as a renewable energy: Low cost, low visual impact, high predictability, small environmental footprint.

The concept is designed to allow simple installation and maintenance retrieval in both shallow and deep water and to minimise vibrations, hence increasing the maintenance period. A gearless low speed generator offers a high efficiency over a range of speeds with minimal maintenance demands through the use of novel structural and electromagnetic topologies. A simple and robust yawing mechanism is used for maximum flow capture and the use of the gravity base vastly reduces installation cost.