Tidal energy is a new, promising realm of renewable energy. As technology advances, GL Renewables Certification (GL RC) is contributing its expertise by certifying Alstom's tidal turbine prototype. Certification of tidal turbines is one of the key development areas for the tidal industry in the future, and represents a major milestone for Alstom on the REDAPT project.

GL RC and Tidal Generation Limited (TGL, now rebranded Alstom) have worked closely together to achieve 'C-Design Assessment' certification for Alstom's full-scale 1MW tidal turbine.

"The certification was carried out according to our Guideline for the Certification of Ocean Energy Converters." said Andreas Schroeter, Managing Director GL Renewables Certification. "It included assessment of the prototype design which demonstrates the fulfillment of the requirements in relation to design safety for the prototype installation site."

In Bristol, UK, Alstom received the Statement of Compliance for the C-Design-Assessment of the tidal turbine from Andreas Schroeter, GL RC. For Rob Stevenson, Alstom's Vice-President for Ocean Energy, "the certification activity has been a great success, demonstrating efficient working between the two organizations to particularly challenging timescales".

Alstom's 1MW output horizontal-axis turbine is the vehicle which is part of the UK's ReDAPT (Reliable Data Acquisition Program Tidal) project, which has been installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland, to begin 18 months of testing. This follows the successful testing of TGL's 500kW device, which was also certified by GL RC.

The ReDAPT project, commissioned and co-funded by the Energy Technologies Institute, will test the performance of the tidal generator in different operational conditions. Its aim is to increase public and industry confidence in tidal turbine technologies by providing a wide range of environmental impact and performance information, as well as demonstrating a new, reliable turbine design.