Development of a floating current turbine

Ocean current energy is one of promising power resource for Japan, since Kurosio Current, which pass through near the Japanese coast, is one of strongest ocean current in the world. We formed a consortium and started to study about a floating type current turbine system last year. A floating type concept with the twin-turbine is proposed as a minimum weight ocean current generator. The float is moored by a single mooring line and the tension force is balanced with the thrust force and the buoyancy of the turbine. This system is supposed to have a weathervane function and the depth is controllable by adjusting the buoyancy and the blade pitch. A conceptual design, turbine design, current measurement at off Izu Island and a computer code to simulate the state of whole system are shown in this paper.