The main objective of GEOCEAN and its partners is to develop a powerful equipment that can operate under extreme conditions to fix tidal turbine foundations in the hard, rocky seabed that is usually found in strong current zones. Existing shovels are power-limited - 75 kW - and operates only in shallow waters - depths up to 20m - under very limited current conditions. The target of this project is to develop a 300 kW machine that would operate under the following conditions:
- maximum current 5 m.s-1
- significant swell height up to 3 m, 12 s period
- minimum sea: 35 m.
Allowing longer work periods, this tool will be a direct contribution to the competitiveness of tidal energy.