Tidal energy developer Minesto has this week launched its first Dragon Class tidal kite in Vestmanna, Faroe Islands, and has started producing electricity.

"[Minesto] has now successfully completed the first week of commissioning including satisfactory electricity production and verification of all core functionality with the new Dragon 4 tidal power plant in Vestmanna, Faroe Islands. The kite has generated first electricity to grid right "out of the box" and the commissioning plan has been executed as planned," Minesto said Wednesday.

“We are very pleased to announce that the first week of commissioning of Dragon 4 has been successfully completed. Every aspect of the project has been fulfilled according to plan and electricity has been successfully generated,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto.

“We started electricity production the same day we launched the Dragon 4, after having completed all necessary pre-flight function verification on the first tide after installation. The Dragon 4 has a lot to offer, and we are now moving into a phase where we will fine-tune the control system settings to maximize the power output,” expressed Bernt Erik Westre, Chief Technology Officer, Minesto. Illustration of a Minesto Tidal Kite - Credit: Minesto (File image)

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