Considering that the sea has always been a primary source for life: an all Italian technology now enables us to exploit marine currents.
Last 15th March the Straits of Messina was the site of a positive test run by the research and development company “Ponte di Archimede”, in the framework of the Enermar project. The prototype of a Kobold hydraulic turbine generator of electric energy was moored offshore of the Torre Faro coast (Messina). Thanks to the exploitation of the kinetic energy contained in marine currents, present in that portion of sea, 60 reflectors, installed on the floating pilot platform, remained turned on for a long time.
First time worldwide, this advanced technology allows us to capture, an ever lasting natural resource , obtaining a huge amount of clean energy, renewable for centuries.
Professor Domenico Coiro, lecturer at the University of Naples Federico II – Engineering Department of Aeronautical Science and Design, in the role of scientific advisor for “Ponte di Archimede”, directed the testing of the Kobold turbine model. He declared that the experimental results prove without doubt that this technology can open new and extremely promising horizons in the field of electricity production from marine currents.
Carlo Rubbia, the Italian Nobel prize winner for Physics, is not only an exceptional scientist – as Prof. Coiro has underlined, but also a talent scout for innovative technologies. In an interview on the Italian financial newspaper “Il Sole 24 Ore”, two months ago, Prof. Rubbia said that the exploitation of marine currents in the Straits of Messina is a very promising source of renewable energy.
The results of the experiment conducted using the Enermar prototype were presented, by Prof. Coiro, at the Italo-Australian Exhibition and Conference on Technological Innovation, held in Melbourne from 25 to 28 March, organized by the Italian Embassy in Australia and coordinated by the Scientific Attaché, Eng. Nicola Sasanelli.
“The technology used - stated Prof. Coiro during his speech which roused a lot of interest in the international scientific community - derives from a decade of research, focused on perfecting the mechanical and hydrodynamic efficiency of the patented turbine Kobold, named after a German Elf, installed under a Enermar floating pilot platform”.
The Kobold turbine is a submerged vertical-axis turbine which produces mechanical energy, from the exploitation of marine currents, transforming it into electric energy, while turning with a rotational direction independent to the direction of the incoming current.
The energy obtained from this system is astounding - explained Prof. Coiro – considering the fact that exploiting the surface of only one square meter of a 3 m/s current you can generate a power of about 4 Kw!
Strong currents exist in the Philippine Archipelagos as well as in Melbourne’s Bay, from which you could obtain an incredible amount of electric energy. Also considering the fact that obtainable power increases according to the velocity cube of the marine current.
An advantage of Enermar’s system, compared to wind energy systems, is the predictability of the marine currents’ velocity which depend mainly on lunar phases."
The realization of the Enermar prototype has been financed by Ponte di Archimede Company, chaired by Mr. Elio Matacena, together with a 50 % fund paid by the Sicilian Region Administration (Regione Siciliana), in the framework of European Union Structural Funds.
The perception that from marine currents you may obtain energy has led , for the last 20 years, all the research carried out by Ponte di Archimede Company. Five years ago an important step was made represented by the Italy-Chinese partnership, between the Zheijang Provincial Science and Technology Commission, brought into operation thanks to the Synergy European Fund. This fund was then used for an applied research of the Enermar system in Zheijang Archipelagos, facing Shanghai, where strong marine currents exist.
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