Minesto reaches historic milestone – first electricity to grid with tidal powerplant Dragon 12

The utility-scale tidal powerplant Dragon 12 – rated at 1.2 MW – has been successfully commissioned and, in the early morning of February 9, 2024, delivered its first electricity to the national grid in the Faroe Islands. The Dragon 12 is Minesto’s first tidal energy kite in megawatt-scale. It has now been successfully commissioned and has generated electricity at satisfactory levels in its first phase of operation. The 12-meter wide and 28-ton heavy subsea kite, anchored with a tether to the seabed, is steered in an 8-shaped flight trajectory powered by the tidal flow. Dragon 12 is a 10-times scale-up (from the existing 100 kW Dragon 4) that delivers competitive performance and cost-levels for build-out of large-scale commercial subsea parks of tidal powerplants.