It’s five years ago that SeaGen was deployed by the “Rambiz” crane barge in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough.
As it was a world-first, the event attracted global media interest and a large number of people made the visit to the Lough to see the deployment take place. SeaGen’s installation was completed six weeks later, the first electricity was generated by the Lough’s fast-moving tidal waters in the July of that year and SeaGen generated at its maximum capacity in the December.
Five years on, SeaGen is still the world’s largest grid-connected tidal stream turbine and the many lessons learnt from its deployment and operation are helping with Siemens’ next generation tidal generation technology and its deployment in other stretches of water.
Over the past five years, SeaGen has stood as a beacon to the world in the development of marine renewable energy. It has generated more than 7GWh of power into the electricity grid. It has also welcomed a huge number of visitors from across the world, including HRH Prince Charles and various UK and Northern Irish energy ministers.
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Press release, April 8, 2013; Image: Marine Current Turbines