About Us

Tidal Sails resilient and extremely low weight technology platform is adaptable to most locations, and is protected by a set of patents worldwide.  The slow moving sails, (5knots) 15 meter underneath the surface, are considered harmless to fish and sea mammals, and do not interfere with shipping lanes.  The autonomous Self Adjustable & Variable Pitch Sail Control System assures optimal pitch according to current speed and direction. In strong currents with concurrent high sideways loads, excess power is effectively bled off in order not to compromise the structural integrity of the ropeway system – similar to easing out the main sail to prevent overpowering the sailboat in strong winds. Consequently an efficient Peak Shaving is also achieved!

BeamReach outperforms turbines by 40x or more in a 3-knot current. A typical 5-knot site experiences 5,000 hours above 3 knots but only 10–20 hours at 5 knots. Our strongest competitors require 5–7 knots just to reach their rated power and generate 10% or less at 3 knots.

Since current availability increases by a factor of 7 for every knot less required, needing 2 knots less means 49 times greater resource availability!

The company collaborates with eager technological and industrial partners to ensure qualified modeling, optimal solutions and right material before deploying costly full- scale installations. Tidal Sails has carried out a range of theoretical and numerical studies over the years. These have been validated via several prototypes and test rigs, which has resulted in four major technology generation leaps since the drag based “Classic” was patented in 2003.

All the important P’s are in place: Permit, PPA, People, Partners, Plans and Passion, including a Patent Protected Power Plant Product.

(Read more about Our History)

Tidal Sails 4th generation, “BeamReach” (norsk seilbegrep: bidevind) installation will be installed perpendicular to the current, well beneath shipping lanes. The ropes gets pulled as sails “reach” (sailing terms) across the current, “jibe” about the first station, then “reach” back, “beating” about the opposite station, effectively generating electricity via the two stations with 2 large direct drive generators each.

The “BeamReach” yields about the same efficiency per swept area as competitors, but is capable of sweeping a much larger cross section of the current, consequently reach Rated Power already at 3knots. At the same time typical tidal turbines only generate about 10-15% of theirs, at more than 3 times the cost per installed MW. 

Due to BeamReach aggressive Peak Shaving capability – annual production per MW is also significantly larger.

Additionally, for each knot less required to reach rated power, the extractable natural resource increase by a factor of 7 (Rule of thumb). Tidal turbines normally reach Rated Power at 5-7knots.

From the above one can derive BeamReach cost level at about 1/40th of competition in 3 knots, which is as difficult to convey as to accept.

Norwegian Coastal Administration-Exclusive Sponsorship Agreement: The Norwegian Coastal Administration is an agency of the Ministry of Transport and Communication responsible for services related to maritime safety, maritime infrastructure, transport planning and efficiency, and emergency response to acute pollution. In this project the main interest is on development of renewable energies in support of maritime infrastructure and maritime monitoring. (Contributing 3man months into the TidalSails full scale demonstration project.) 

Milestones and Achievements