Magallanes Renovables, S.L. is a Spanish developer of floating tidal stream energy devices, set up in 2009. The company's head office is in

Redondela Redondela is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra (province), Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the Comarcas of Galicia, comarca of Vigo (comarca), Vigo. The most famous icons of the ...

, Galicia, with a UK subsidiary Magallanes Tidal Energy Ltd. based in

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

. They have tested their concept at the

European Marine Energy Centre The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd. is a UKAS accredited test and research centre focused on wave and tidal power development, based in the Orkney Islands off the mainland of Scotland. The centre provides developers with the opportun ...

(EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland at small scale in 2014, and at full-scale since 2019. In 2022, they were amongst the first tidal stream developers to be awarded market support for commercial projects in the UK, under the

Contracts for Difference In finance, a contract for difference (CFD) is a financial agreement between two parties, commonly referred to as the "buyer" and the "seller." The contract stipulates that the buyer will pay the seller the difference between the current value o ...

(CfD) scheme.

Device concept

The Magalanes ATIR is a floating platform, like a ship's hull, which is moored in place by lines at the bow and stern. Under the water, about below the hull, two three-bladed counter-rotating turbines are mounted at either end of a common driveshaft. These power the generators, which capture the energy of the tides flowing past. The design of the platform is modular, to make construction easier and cheaper. The hull is symmetrical fore-aft, and both rotors are variable pitch, allowing the device to capture both the ebb and flood tide directions without being moved. The counter-rotating design improves efficiency, as the aft turbine captures some more energy from the slipstream of the first turbine, it also helps balance the torque reaction. The novel device has been built using methodologies and experience from other related sectors, including

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...

offshore wind power Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of ca ...

, oil & gas. The design of the platform allows for access to the machinery during operation, without the need to disconnect the turbine. The ATIR 2.0 device design has been certified with a "Basic Design Assessment" by

Bureau Veritas Bureau Veritas is a French company specialized in testing, inspection and certification founded in 1828. It operates in a variety of sectors, including building and infrastructure (27% of revenue), agri-food and commodities (23% of revenue), mar ...

History

The company was founded in 2009 by Alejandro Marques de Magallanes. In 2013–2014, a small-scale version of the ATIR device was tested at the EMEC nursery test site in Shapinsay Sound, although this was not grid-connected. The sea trials commences on 28 November 2013. The device was 1:10 scale, long and wide, with a three-hull

Trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recrea ...

design, however subsequent versions only have a single hull. The project reportedly cost 1.2m$US (about £0.73m, €0.89), funded through the European Marine Renewables Infrastructure Network (Marinet) project, government agencies in Spain, and private investors.

ATIR testing at EMEC

In 2019, the 1.5 MW ATIR device was deployed at the EMEC Fall of Warness site, near the island of

Eday Eday (, ) is one of the islands of Orkney, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland. One of the North Isles, Eday is about from the Orkney Mainland. With an area of , it is the ninth-largest island of the archipelago. The bedroc ...

. It was deployed in February and connected to the electricity grid in March 2019, generating power shortly after. This device has two diameter rotors mounted below a long hull. The device was constructed in Spain in the

Ria de Vigo Vigo Ria () and () is an estuary in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. It is the southernmost ria of the Rías Baixas. It is located in the south of the province of Pontevedra, and extends in a northeast direction over a distance of from its mouth ...

and launched in 2017 followed by a period of tow testing in Vigo bay. More than 20 tests were carried out in seven towing operations. The device generated up to 450 kW, limited by the power of the tug. It was then towed to Orkney in September 2018, after which it was installed and tested at EMEC. In 2020, the device was towed to Edinburgh for maintenance in the Imperial Dry Dock at the Port of Leith, before returning to site in April 2021. To enter the dock, the device had to be tipped onto its side using buoys. The testing at EMEC was initially funded through the European OCEAN_2G project (Second Generation technologies in ocean Energy) coordinated by SAGRES SL, the parent company of Magallanes Renovables. Further funding through the

Interreg Interreg is a series of programmes to stimulate cooperation between regions in and out of the European Union (EU), funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The first Interreg started in 1989. Interreg IV covered the period 2007–2013. I ...

OceanDEMO and the MaRINET2 projects allowed the testing to be extended beyond the initial two years.

First commercial projects

Magallanes Tidal Energy has been awarded

(CfD) in Allocation Rounds AR4–AR6 to supply subsidised electricity to the GB National Grid for several projects. These include a farm of six turbines at Morlais, North Wales, and three more at EMEC in Orkney, Scotland, as shown in the table below. These will use the second-generation ATIR 2.0 device, which Magallanes completed the engineering design of in 2023. {, class="wikitable" , + !CfD Allocation Round !Location !Total Capacity (MW) !Delivery Year !Strike Price (£/MWh) !Ref. , - , AR4, July 2022 , Morlais , 5.62 , 2025/26 , 178.54 , , - , rowspan="2" , AR5, September 2023 , Morlais , 3.0 , rowspan="2" , 2027/28 , rowspan="2" , 198.00 , rowspan="2" , , - , EMEC , 1.5 , - , AR6, September 2024 , EMEC , 3.0 , 2028/29 , 172.00 , {{Cite web , date=3 September 2024 , title=Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6: results , url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/contracts-for-difference-cfd-allocation-round-6-results , access-date=12 October 2024 , website=GOV.UK , language=en

Future plans

Magallanes hope to install their devices in other locations, including Spain, noting that the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

has significant potential.

References

Renewable energy Tidal power Tidal power in Scotland Tidal power in Wales