In January 2020 HydroWing and QED Naval formed new collaborative European joint venture and with it acquired world leading turbine developer Tocardo boasting over 20 years industry leading technology development, knowledge and expertise.
Tocardo’s technology development started in 1999 and saw their first prototype produced in 2005. Since then they have developed two new turbine technologies, filled over 20 patents for industry leading innovations and become the world’s only commercial turbine supplier. Additionally, they have operated more tidal projects any other and racked up more running hours than the rest of the sectors major developers combined. Their technology is renowned for its simplicity, robustness and reliability having achieved 90-100% availability across their projects.
A focus on reliability, with very low operations and maintenance costs has resulted in industry leading levelised costs of energy (LCOE). Tocardo’s turbines are direct drive, i.e. without a gearbox or mechanical pitch mechanism. They have a patented, smart rotor bi-blade design, which enables it to be bi-directional with a guaranteed 20-year lifetime.