The ENFAIT (Enabling Future Arrays in Tidal) Project is an Horizon 2020 flagship €20m project to advance tidal energy, led by Nova Innovation. The project started in 2017 and is due to close next year. The project brings in expertise from a consortium of partners: Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, IDETA, SKF, University of Edinburgh and RSK. We are moving tidal turbines around within an array to study the effects on efficiency and cost reduction. The project is building investor confidence in tidal energy and moving the European sector towards successful commercial operations.
Key Facts
EnFAIT has delivered:
- A 30% reduction in the cost of tidal power (and is on target to achieve 40% by project end)
- Growth of European supplier countries from 4 at the project start to 19 today
- 95% turbine availability (exceeding the 80% target)
- Non-stop operating periods for turbines of 18 months (exceeding the 6-month target)
- No negative impact on marine life recorded under project monitoring (and in an overall ten-year monitoring period at the Shetland Tidal Array)
Technology Walkaround
Nova Innovation CEO Simon Forrest’s episode of ORE Catapult’s lunchtime event series The Tidal Power Express provides a walkaround of the technologies at the heart of EnFAIT and the commercial future for tidal power (30 minutes). Register for upcoming episodes here:
Tidal Power Knowledge
The EnFAIT project publishes environmental, operational and technological reports for use by other researchers and developers. View them here >
EnFAIT Project Film (2021)
Tidal Power: Fact vs Fiction
You can find out more about tidal power by visiting Nova Innovation’s Guide or viewing ORE Catapult’s 1-minute expert interviews that separate myth from fact and podcast featuring Nova Innovation’s John Meagher in conversation with tidal energy experts on the future prospects for the sector