Demonstration Experiment of a Small Tidal Power Generator with Drag-type Water Turbine at Offshore of Tairadate in Aomori Prefecture

Abstract

We have developed a small tidal power generator prototype to realize low-flow velocity power generation in the ocean. Then, we demonstrated verification-experiments of the low-flow velocity power generation using the small tidal power generator, in cooperation with Aomori Prefectural Office and the cooperation of fishery union members of Sotogahama fishery cooperative Tairadate branch at offshore of Tairadate; the local community of living the place understands and cooperates with our project. With the proposed generator and measurement system, we could continuously generate electricity under the sea for one month without maintenance and collect the experiments' logs. Then, by pulling up the system every month, replacing the battery and cleaning water turbine blade and the system, we could conduct a tidal current power generation experiment for three months. From the results of the power generation experiment using the developed experimental equipment in the tidal current, it is verified that the amount of power generation can be estimated from the flow velocity. Besides, we considered the feasibility of the proposed power-generation device.