Energy Harvesting Turbine Successfully Tested

Seaformatics Systems, Inc. of St. John’s, Newfoundland, has completed a rigorous, 18 month test and evaluation of four (4) full-scale Power Harvesting Bottom Mount (PHBM) systems. The test and evaluation program was co-sponsored by Husky Energy to learn more about the systems’ long-term durability and performance for possible application in future offshore operations. The testing commenced in June of 2014 and was completed in January of 2016. All of the units were deployed in Placentia Bay, off the Newfoundland coast, in ~20m of water. During the testing period, the PHBMs realized an average current speed of 0.08 m/s and supplied continuous power to Sontek Argonaut XR ADCPs. Two of the units were exposed to higher short term peak currents of 0.4 m/s and harvested over 1kWhr, effectively doubling the life of the ADCP’s batteries over the evaluation period.

Seaformatics PHBM being deployed in Placentia Bay

Seaformatics Systems, Inc. is a commercial start-up, launched from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Since 2007, the Seaformatics group has specialized in the design, development and manufacture of ocean energy harvesting products. The company has recently launched a new, scaled down system, called the Mooring Power Generator (MPG), a power harvesting device that can be connected to any mooring and used to continuously trickle charge multiple sensors simultaneously by harvesting power from the surrounding ocean.