Swimmer Turbine Aims to Power 30 Homes With Tidal Energy
Engineer David Mummery developed the Swimmer Turbine after experiencing the force of a fast-flowing river in Scotland. The compact tidal generator can produce…
Engineer David Mummery says the turning tides hidden sea power could offer coastal communities a locally built source of electricity. His Swimmer Turbine, developed after he experienced a powerful river current in Scotland, can generate enough power for about 30 homes.
The compact tidal generator sits anchored to the seabed, out of sight below the water’s surface. Mummery’s design differs from large tidal projects in Scottish waters: fishermen and local workers could assemble and install it from their own village harbour.
A practical idea. That is the promise.
A turbine shaped by the current
Mummery first imagined the device while lying in rapids at a secret location in the Scottish Highlands. He had tied a cord across the river, swam out and held on as the current rushed over him.
“As an engineer we do the maths and stuff,” he said, “but sometimes you can get a lot more from actually touching the water and feeling it”.
He said the experience helped him picture how a turbine could work with turbulent water. The idea became the Swimmer Turbine, a 50kw tidal generator named after his time in the river.
Mummery began river tests in the early 2010s. On the advice of a patent lawyer, he chose a discreet site away from curious tourists and cameras. “You're trying to be quite discreet because you're working with new technology,” he said.
The device uses fiberglass and steel. Its small scale is central to the proposal: unlike large marine energy installations, it is intended to be assembled by local workers rather than built as a giant project offshore.
Local installation, wider challenge
Mummery described assembly as similar to opening a flat-pack furniture kit. “You get a shipping container and you'll open it up and it will be about 20 components,” he said. Workers would bolt the parts together, follow a launch plan and put the turbine in the water.
For coastal communities, the model could put installation work closer to local harbours and give villages a role in producing power. The source does not specify a cost, a rollout schedule or how many turbines could be deployed, so the scale of any eventual contribution remains unclear.
Scotland already has larger tidal schemes, including Nova Innovation’s array in Bluemull Sound, MeyGen’s turbines in the Pentland Firth and Orbital O2, a floating turbine anchored at Fall of Warness in the Orkney Islands. The Swimmer Turbine is smaller than those projects, and Mummery presents it as a lower-cost alternative.
His career has also included work on bigger energy technologies. Originally from Guildford, he studied mechanical engineering at Surrey University and worked as a consultant in the UK energy sector, including nuclear work and decommissioning. In 2010, he took a secondment at Scottish Power Renewables on the Pelamis project in Orkney.
Pelamis, a 180m-long wave energy machine, was the first deep-water floating wave device to generate power for the national grid. It went into administration in 2014. Mummery said the sector has seen promising technologies falter when the market did not support them.
“The industry is littered with these examples of fantastic technologies and teams that do brave things that take decades,” he said. “But at some point the market doesn't step up and they falter. Some really good ones have lasted the course, but others have not and it's sad.”
Mummery said the UK has “phenomenal waters for tidal power”. The Swimmer Turbine is designed to generate enough electricity for about 30 homes.
Source: bbc.co.uk
