Tidal turbine spinout receives Shell Springboard Award

25th March 2014

Oxford University Innovation spin-out Kepler Energy has been awarded £30,000 at the prestigious Shell Springboard Awards.

Kepler Energy is developing a second generation tidal turbine designed to harness low velocity currents.

Directors Peter Dixon and Professor Guy Houlsby demonstrated a 1/20th scale prototype of the Kepler tidal turbines at the event.

Kepler Energy will use the award to contract with Oxford’s Tidal Energy Research Group to assess the potential electrical power output of a tidal fence, comprised of the Kepler turbines, in the Bristol Channel.

This could generate about 600MW at peak, enough to power about 400,000 homes.

Professor Houlsby said: “What we intend to do is to model very accurately the tidal conditions in the Bristol Channel so that we can determine the power output from the fence array. We can carry out many analyses to optimise the position and layout. We need to know this accurately to have a robust financial plan. We also need to look at how the fence might interact with other proposals to extract energy from the Bristol Channel, such as tidal lagoons.”

Peter Dixon said: “Our detailed analysis from our research supported by the Technology Strategy Board, and from work with our supply chain indicates that generation costs from the tidal fence should be lower than those of off-shore wind, and this modelling work will provide robust support for this. The effect will be to de-risk investment in the tidal array and assure potential investors of a good return.”

Kepler Energy received the award as a regional runner up. Kepler is a 2010 spin-out from the University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science.

For further information: peterdixon@keplerenergy.co.uk

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