HydroWing, a division of UK-based Inyanga Marine Energy Group, has signed a binding agreement with Indonesia’s state-owned power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to develop Indonesia’s first tidal current power plant. The deal for the 10-MW project, set to be built in East Nusa Tenggara in the Indonesian archipelago, follows extensive evaluations for tidal energy sites across the nation.
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The partnership builds on a 2022 memorandum of understanding (MoU), in which HydroWing and PLN committed to advancing tidal energy in Indonesia through rigorous site identification, resource assessment, and front-end engineering. HydroWing said the companies chose East Nusa Tenggara due to its strong marine currents, which funnel between islands to amplify tidal flow (Figure 1).
As part of the development, a PLN sub-holding company will conduct essential preliminary work, including bathymetric studies, site surveys, sediment sampling, and assessments of interconnection impact. HydroWing will lead the feasibility study, establish technical specifications, and outline operations and maintenance plans. Both entities will collaborate on licensing requirements, as well as social and environmental impact studies.
“Indonesia is seen as a prime market for our innovative tidal energy technology,” said Richard Parkinson, CEO of Inyanga Marine Energy Group, in October. “Indonesia has among the best tidal potential in the world due to the throughflow of marine current from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. There is also a funnel effect between the islands of the archipelago, which strengthens the tidal energy potential still further. This pilot project at East Nusa Tenggara will be pivotal for us and our local partners to move rapidly towards significant commercial-scale projects in the Indonesia archipelago.”
Hydrowing’s tidal energy device combines a gravity-based structure with retractable wings, each equipped with two to five bi-directional Tocardo turbines. “HydroWing is designed to be a cost-effective and scalable solution to tidal stream energy generation. A supporting structure sits on the seabed, under its own weight,” the company says. The “wings,” which hold the turbines, are then lowered into position on this structure. This makes HydroWing very straightforward to deploy, according to the company. The turbines are bi-directional, so they generate power as the tide comes in and as it goes out. These turbines are also reportedly cost-effective to produce at scale.
In This Issue
Full issueEarlier this year, HydroWing secured a milestone contract with Energies PH Inc., via its affiliate San Bernardino Ocean Power Corp., to develop Southeast Asia’s first tidal power plant at Capul in the Philippines. This year, Inyanga Marine Energy Group also received a 10-MW award for its tidal energy project at Morlais through the UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6. The award effectively doubles the project’s capacity to 20 MW. In addition, Hydrowing signed an MoU with Verdant Morlais Ltd. to expand Morlais by 4.9 MW.
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
