The ’SeaFlow’ project involved designing and building a full-scale single rotor 300kW experimental tidal turbine and installing it at a suitable site identified 3km NE of Lynmouth on the North Devon Coast in May 2003.

The machine was the World’s first tidal turbine and the most powerful marine renewable energy device in the sea. To date, over four years later it is still the largest tidal turbine in an offshore location. Since being installed it has undergone extensive commissioning and testing as well as producing performance data that has confirmed the viability of the concept.

In 2005, additional instrumentation was fitted together with up-rated components to allow unmanned running. It has since successfully operated in a fully automatic mode.

The project was conducted through an industrial consortium, but with all the Intellectual Property and the physical asset of the turbine developed being the sole property of MCT. The consortium partners all had particular complementary skills to ensure the success of the project, two of whom also became founder shareholders.

The main phase of the project concluded during the summer of 2004, when MCT took over all aspects of the management and running of the prototype. The decommissioning is expected to be carried out after the ’SeaGen’ machine is installed, and this task remains the responsibility of the relevant original consortium partner.