Monday, January 09, 2017

GE Oceade development suspended - opportunities at Raz Blanchard?

According to a report in Tidal Energy Today (http://tidalenergytoday.com/2017/01/09/ge-drops-oceade-tidal-turbine-sinks-nephtyd-project/ and other, mainly French, press), GE has given up on the development of its 1.4 MW Oceade turbine and redeployed around 40 staff onto other projects (reportedly offshore wind).

This is a blow for the Raz Blanchard project, to the West of the Cotentin peninsula, where Engie had planned to deploy 4 of the units.  As a result, it is reported that Engie has shelved the project.


GE's Oceade technology, acquired as part of its acquisition of Alstom, who got it from Tidal Generation Limited, had proven its technical potential at EMEC.

I suppose there may be an IP acquisition opportunity or the chance for another supplier to get in front of Engie to try to resurrect the project.  OpenHydro are already planning deployment at Raz Blanchard, and Atlantis might look to step in with their own, or Andritz, turbines.




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