OREANDA-NEWS. An experimental floating unit for a tidal power plant was launched onto the water at Sevmash Plant in the city of Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Region. The unit had been produced to order of OAO "HydroWGC".

The floating unit is equipped with an experimental 1,500 kW orthogonal hydraulic turbine. The turbine was developed by Russian researchers and engineers and has no counterpart in the world.

The peculiarity of the orthogonal turbine is that the direction of its rotation does not change in the rise and fall of the tide. The unique design of the hydraulic unit makes it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of the tidal power plant to 60-70% and reduce the construction cost by 30-40%.

The unit floated in Severodvinsk will be towed to the Barents Sea shore and installed near the Kislogubskaya Tidal Power Plant (TiPP), which is a test site used by OAO "HydroWGC" to thoroughly elaborate the new technologies for TiPPs.