Turbine Lander: The Next Generation

Описание: Marine Energy holds vast potential to enhance ocean sensing, but open ocean prototype testing has been limited. In 2023-2024, a multi-institutional team of researchers deployed the Turbine Lander, a compact cross-flow tidal turbine in Sequim Bay, Washington. This was the first prolonged deployment and testing of a tidal turbine on the seafloor in the Pacific Northwest.
After publishing a summary of the design and lessons learned, the 2nd generation system was fabricated and tested in 2025, yielding notable improvements in performance. In this talk, Dr. Chris Bassett, a lead engineer on this project, shares his perspective on transitioning technology from laboratory to field. He’ll present lessons learned, and how these informed the 2nd generation design.

Dr. Chris Bassett has over a decade of experience leading research in ocean acoustics, engineering and marine energy. He is the CoDirector of the Pacific Marine Energy Center, and a Research Scientist at University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory.

Research Paper on the 1st Generation Lander:
Bassett, C., Gibbs, P., Wood, H. et al. Lessons learned from the design and operation of a small-scale cross-flow tidal turbine. J. Ocean Eng. Mar. Energy 11, 909–929 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-025-00...

Technical Report on the 2nd Generation Design, Analysis, and Testing: https://www.apl.uw.edu/research/downl...

This turbine also had an environmental monitoring package on it, and observations from it have been featured in several media outlets:

Underwater Cameras Could Help Unlock America’s Tidal Energy Industry.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14...

Critics feared tidal Turbines are “underwater blenders’ but new footage proves marine life knows how to dodge them. ZME Science. https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/ma...

Watch: wildlife interact with underwater turbines.
https://wildlife.org/watch-wildlife-i...

Photos: 1,044 marine animal observations analyzed for tidal turbine collision risks https://interestingengineering.com/ph...

Spy Camera Dropped into Sea off Washington Coast and Left there for more than 100 days. This is why
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/anim...

Understanding Environmental Effects of Small Scale Tidal Turbines: Insights from Sequim Bay. Tethys Stories. https://tethys.pnnl.gov/stories/under...

Marine wildlife rarely interact with tidal turbines, and usually avoid collisions when they do, observations show. Phys.org.  https://phys.org/news/2026-01-marine-...

Experts Left a Camera Underwater in Washington fro 100+ Days- the Results is Completely Unexpected. Green Matters. https://www.greenmatters.com/pn/exper...