The French start-up EEL Energy launched, this Wednesday, July 5, the first biomimetic tidal turbine, that is to say inspired by nature.
Its design is based on an undulating membrane that imitates the movement of fish to produce energy.
A life-size test
The design of the tidal turbine lasted about ten years. Thanks to her movements inspired by marine animals and current, she is able to generate electricity without any pollution. ” It’s a completely biomimetic machine that ripples in the current because it’s pre-stressed. So you imagine a plate that you pull on, it opposes the water and it begins to ripple in the water just like a fish ripples », Comments Franck Sylvain, CEO of EEL Energy, at the microphone of FranceInfo.
She has just been launched on the Rhône, near the town of Caluire-et-Cuire. The site was not chosen at random; in addition to significant current speeds, it is prohibited for navigation. Fully renewable, the technology is 8 meters wide and 16 long. A large plastic membrane equips it on the underside. The periodic deformations caused by the undulations of the structure are transformed into electricity via an electromechanical system.
In total, four tidal turbines will be installed in the Rhône by the end of the year. The main objective of the project is to carry out full-scale technical tests of these new types of tidal turbines, before considering long-term deployment on other river sites.
Useful technology for indigenous populations
EEL Energy hopes to attract investors to deploy this internationally patented technology to other parts of the world. The Congo, the Amazon, Chile, the American states of Alaska and Mississippi are for example targeted. ” Generally, these are indigenous populations who do not have access to electricity. If there is a river nearby, we can put our machines and make them cheaper and completely decarbonized energy “, explains Franck Sylvain.
The electricity produced by this first launch will be injected into the French electricity grid. It should amount to 400 MWh, or the equivalent of the consumption of 100 households.
Source : FranceInfo
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