It has been announced that Inyanga Marine Energy Group is taking over the D10 tidal turbine in France. The D10 tidal turbine was the first grid-connected tidal turbine in France, initially deployed in 2015.
It is located in the Fromveur Passage, off the coast of Brittany, and provides clean sustainable energy to the remote island of Ushant.
The D10 turbine was previously owned by French company Sabella, which went into liquidation in January 2024. Inyanga Marine Energy Group have now secured permissions to operate the tidal turbine until August 2028.
The Inyanga Marine Energy team, which is headquartered in the UK and has an office in Brittany in France, has managed all offshore operations at the D10 site since 2016.
Diane Dhomé of Inyanga Marine Energy Group said: "All permitting for the D10 turbine has now been renewed. We really appreciate the great support our company received from the Brittany Region and the French Administration. We have a shared vision for the development of renewable tidal energy."
Since its launch in 2015, the D10 tidal turbine has undergone various efficiency improvements and the technology has been validated as well as proven to have no negative impact on the local marine environment. Laid on the seabed at a depth of 55 metres, the machine is 17 metres high and 10 metres in diameter and can deliver up to 250kW of clean electricity to Ushant island grid. It has been operating continuously since its last deployment, managed by Inyanga, in early 2022.
Richard Parkinson, CEO of Inyanga Marine Energy Group, added: "We have been heavily involved in the offshore operations on the D10 for several years and we were saddened by the bankruptcy of Sabella. We are pleased that our takeover of the D10 tidal turbine has now been concluded by the courts and the new deeds are now being drawn up. The future is safeguarded for this iconic tidal turbine, which has enjoyed tremendous support from the local community. It is another exciting milestone for Inyanga Marine Energy Group as we move towards our ambition of being the world leader in tidal energy."
The Fromveur Passage (also known as St Vincent's Channel) has the second strongest tidal current in France and is notorious amongst sailors for its violent currents.
For more information, contact Lynn File: lynn@brandinnovation.co.uk
About Inyanga Marine Energy Group
Inyanga Marine Energy Group develops cutting-edge solutions for the global offshore renewables industry. Inyanga Marine Energy Group operates a highly experienced and specialised team of offshore engineers from their head office in Falmouth, UK. The company also has offices in Rennes, France, and Anglesey, Wales.
Inyanga Marine Energy Group has two divisions - HydroWing, which focuses on tidal energy technology development, and Inyanga Maritime, which delivers offshore engineering and installation. The company aims to advance through to deployment of the innovative tidal energy converter, the HydroWing, to provide cost-effective, reliable, and predictable power to communities around the globe.
In September 2024, Inyanga Marine Energy Group was awarded 10MW for their tidal energy project at Morlais through Allocation Round 6 (AR6) of the UK government's Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. This doubles the scale of their project, which uses their innovative HydroWing technology, to 20MW, building on their successful 10MW award in the previous allocation round. This allocation was the largest tidal stream project in the UK in the latest Contracts for Difference round. Inyanga Marine Energy Group have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Verdant Morlais Ltd to deliver a further 4.9MW tidal stream energy project at Morlais.
In 2024, the company also won a contract with Energies PH, Inc, through its affiliate San Bernardino Ocean Power Corporation, to build Southeast Asia's first ever tidal power generation plant at Capul in the Philippines.
For more information, visit https://inyangamarine.com/
About the D10 tidal turbine
The D10 tidal turbine project was developed by Sabella, based in Brittany, France.
The Sabella D10 project was nominated in 2011 as part of the "Marine Renewable Energy Demonstrators" call for interest launched by ADEME (French Agency for Environment and Energy Management) and received funding through the "Investments for the Future" national program. A complementary subsidy from the European Regional Development Fund was awarded by the Brittany region.
The initial project consisted of the construction and 12-month deployment of the D10 tidal stream generator in Fromveur Passage. In 2015, the cable to export the electricity produced was installed between the generator site and the coast of Ouessant (Ushant). The D10 was the first tidal turbine to supply electricity to the French grid.
Initial results for the project were promising and in line with expectations, and also opened up future avenues for improvement. In July 2016, at the end of the period for which on-site installation was authorised, the turbine was raised to the surface for technical inspection and expert appraisal. The turbine was redeployed in October 2018 as part of the European Intelligent Community Energy (ICE) project. Following continuous electricity production over several months, Sabella's team focused on testing new control methods in order to significantly improve the efficiency of the turbine and contribute to the competitiveness of this emerging sector. The D10 has now been in continuous operation since 2022.
Sabella went into liquidation in January 2024 and ownership of the asset related to D10 has now been transferred to Inyanga Marine Energy Group subject to the new title deeds being drawn up.
