Description
Within the Faroe Islands, Minesto are planning a 200 MW of tidal energy array development across seven sites: Vestmannasund, Hestfjord, Leirviksfjord, Skopunarfjord and Svinoyarfjord; and two other unconfirmed sites. The strategy includes a small-scale array in Vestmannasund and a stepwise installation at the other sites, starting with Hestfjord. This strategy would supply 40% of the Faroe Island’s growing electricity consumption, enabling the nation to reach its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030.
Vestmannasund:
In 2022 and 2023, Minesto installed Deep Green Tidal Kites into a grid-connected site in Vestmannasund, Faroe Islands. As part of the large-scale build out, the Vestmannasund site includes the expansion of the existing grid-connected site and to establish a mini array with three systems at a total installed capacity of 1.4 MW.
The first installation consisted of one ‘Dragon 4’ tidal kite with an installed capacity of 100 kW. The kite, named “Íðunn”, operates autonomously 40 m below the surface and is remotely monitored, accessed and managed through advanced systems including Human-Machine-Interface and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. This installation was doubled in capacity with a second Dragon 4 installed in March 2023. Both Dragon 4 tidal kites are in the process of being upgraded to help with environmental monitoring (sound measurements, bird studies and whale monitoring) to aid in the next phase build out in Hestfjord.
The final installation at Vestmannasund is the Dragon 12, which is a utility-scale device and is a ten-times scale-up from the existing Dragon 4 device, with the wing spanning 12 metres across. The installed capacity of Dragon 12 is 1.2 MW, making the total installed capacity at Vestmannasund the predicted 1.4 MW.
Hestfjord:
Hestfjord was selected as the second site in the build out plan and will direct electricity distribution to the nearby capital, Torshavn, using 24 Dragon 12 tidal kites. The total planned capacity of the array is approximately 30 MW and the annual yield is estimated to be 84 GWh, which is the equivalent of 20% of the total Faroese energy consumption in 2021. The focus for the first phase (Phase 1a) is to finalise the installation configuration of the first four kites forming the first 5 MW as shown in Figure 1.
Site assessments and upgrading of the grid connection are also underway, including environmental assessment studies, infield cable routing and distribution grid management.
Location
The Faroe Islands
Licensing Information
The organisations involved in the large-scale development include technology developer Minesto, utility company SEV and Faroe Islands governmental authorities.
Project Progress
In 2022, a detailed plan for large-scale 120 MW build out of tidal energy arrays in the Faroe Islands was launched. This included the Vestmannasund site which planned three arrays with a capacity of 1.4 MW.
One Dragon 4 device was installed in Vestmannasund in May 2022 with the electricity generation predicted forecasts achieved from installation and all core functionality verified. The second Dragon 4 subsea infrastructure was installed in December 2022 and the kite was then upgraded and installed in March 2023, doubling the installed capacity to 200 kW.
In December 2022, Minesto signed a long-term lease agreement with the Vestmanna municipality and Faroese utility company, SEV, for port access and an onshore Operations and Maintenance (O&M) work site. The agreement grants access to 2,050 m² site in the inner harbour of Vestmanna, Inni á Fjørð; including a new grid connection. This site will help accommodate the O&M hub for tidal energy production both at the existing site in Vestmannasund, and the planned build out in other sites in the Faroe Islands. This agreement was expanded on in January 2023 outlining respective roles and responsibilities related to tidal energy build out in the Faroe Islands, including the ongoing electricity production in Vestmannasund and the first large scale tidal array in Hestfjord.
In early 2023, the first Dragon 4 kite delivered the highest total production volume for a continuous month of operation in Vestmannasund, with generation reaching up to 200 kWh per tide.
Subsea infrastructure for the Dragon 12 tidal kite in Vestmannasund was completed between May – December 2023, including:
- May 2023 – 3.5 km of subsea cable was laid
- August 2023 - the build and functional testing of the seabed connection system, Launch and Recovery System (LARS), was tested for the Dragon 12 tidal kite.
- December 2023 – the installation of the foundation anchor by Leask Marine Ltd. Instead of previous gravity-based foundations used for Dragon 4, the foundation used was a drilled and grouted tubular foundation anchor to lower both the carbon footprint and reduce the installation costs. This smaller physical footprint and rapid, low-noise installation makes the environmental impact lower than gravity-based foundations.
The Dragon 12 tidal kite was completed in manufacturing in September 2023 and was shipped from the Uddevalla port to the Faroe Islands. It was then installed and commissioned in Vestmannasund at 50 m depth in February 2024 with successful grid connection and power production performance for the first four months after installation, and onshore inspection and maintenance in June 2024.
In February 2024, Minesto upgraded the roadmap from 120 MW to 200 MW tidal energy build out in the Faroe Islands due to the growing demands for renewable energy, increasing the number of sites from five to seven locations. Minesto signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Enhanced Cooperation between the Government of the Faroe Islands and the European Union. This enhanced cooperation will help Minesto gain further business and public funding opportunities.
Key Environmental Issues
Environmental assessments and environmental monitoring are currently taking place at both Vestmannasund and Hestfjord.