Market for in-stream technology

The market for “in-stream technology” is seen by Tocardo as roughly subdivided into the following areas of application:

Inshore application

Retro-fitting in existing barrages or bridges; anywhere where fast water flows occur near these civil constructions. Unidirectional and bidirectional operation possible. Foundation method: depending on site conditions.

River application

In-stream or bridge mounted, or post-hydro dam operation. Mostly unidirectional, however close to the sea in their delta, some rivers also know bidirectional flows.

Offshore application

Large scale turbines, mounted on a floating platform, gravity based or seabed-piled

Each market has its own characteristics and merits in terms of turbine size, accessibility, maintenance, foundation techniques and ease installation.

Tocardo technology applications

The Tocardo technology is applicable for all three markets (and more). Everywhere where water flows combined with a reasonable water depth occur, there is an opportunity for energy generation. Interesting water speeds range from a minimum of 1.5 m/s up to 7 m/s at some places in the world. Ideal conditions for our technology (currently) typically are flows of around 3 to 3.5 m/s .

The water should not be too shallow as the blade can then not be made big enough, resulting in a too small and uneconomical machine. In Inshore and River conditions the water depth is often a limiting factor. This is a great advantage in the case of the generally deeper offshore waters: machines can be made much larger, and therewith capture much more and much cheaper energy. Because of the scale, the over-all challenge is bigger there as well, however, both on technical, infrastructural as well as on a financial and governmental level.

Focus

In addition to the big offshore market, Tocardo also directs its attention now to the Inshore and River markets, all with the same core turbine product. Experience gained through installation of many products in these better controllable areas will result in a much more reliable end product. We believe that the only way to make a product really reliable is to have a large installed base of installed products and to be able to learn and improve from that.

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