Study and innovation of a flexible blade turbine, a new type of tidal current generating device

Utilization of tidal current is becoming a focus of marine energy research and development field. In this paper, a new type of tidal current power generating device which was called flexible blade turbine was put forward. A scale model testing was carried out, and results show that the models performed as expected with good hydrodynamic characteristics. Based on analysis of the results, a scale model turbine with a rated power of 5 kW was constructed, which was an optimal scheme of the flexible blade turbine having higher coefficient of power and power generation capacity. Sea trials were carried out in the Zhaitang Island Channel to evaluate the performance of the turbine. Results show that the turbine performed well, generating the power predicted.