Renewable

April 13 (Renewables Now) - Swedish marine energy developer Minesto AB (STO:MINEST) is planning to build 120 MW of tidal arrays in the Faroe Islands which are expected to meet 40% of the country's growing electricity consumption.

The tidal kite arrays, each with a capacity of between 20 MW and 40 MW, will be installed in several phases at four sites in the fiords to help the country achieve its goal of 100% renewables by 2030.

The large-scale build-out will start this year with Minesto's grid-connected site in Vestmannasund, which will be expanded into a mini array with three systems of a combined 1.4 MW. In the second step, a 10-MW array will be built in Hestfjord to supply electricity to the nearby capital Torshavn. After that, the Hestfjord site will be expanded followed by the stepwise build-out of tidal kite arrays in Leirviksfjord, Skopunarfjord and Svinoyarfjord.

Once up and running, the four sites are expected to generate 350 GWh of clean power per year and help balance the seasonal fluctuations of wind and solar energy.

The build-out plan was presented by Minesto in cooperation with local utility SEV.

The deployment of tidal power should diversify the renewable energy mix and reduce the need for energy storage, according to SEV's R&D head Terji Nielsen.

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