physics

Magallanes Renovables

Magallanes Renovables is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Magallanes Renovables rather than just read about it. In short: Magallanes Renovables, S.L. is a Spanish developer of floating tidal stream energy devices, set up in 2009. The company's head office is in Redondela, Galicia, with a UK subsidiary Magallanes Tidal Energy Ltd. based in Kirkwall.

Key takeaways

Magallanes Renovables belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Magallanes Renovables to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Magallanes Renovables from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Magallanes Renovables, S.L. is a Spanish developer of floating tidal stream energy devices, set up in 2009. The company's head office is in Redondela, Galicia, with a UK subsidiary Magallanes Tidal Energy Ltd. based in Kirkwall. They have tested their concept at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland at small scale in 2014, and at full-scale between 2019 and 2023. In 2022, they were amongst the first tidal stream developers to be awarded market support for commercial projects in the UK, under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme.

Device concept

The Magalanes ATIR is a floating platform, like a ship's hull, which is moored in place by lines at the bow and stern. Under the water, about 15 metres (50 ft) below the hull, two three-bladed counter-rotating turbines are mounted at either end of a common driveshaft. These power the generators, which capture the energy of the tides flowing past. The design of the platform is modular, to make construction easier and cheaper. The hull is symmetrical fore-aft, and both rotors are variable pitch, allowing the device to capture both the ebb and flood tide directions without being moved. The counter-rotating design improves efficiency, as the aft turbine captures some more energy from the slipstream of the first turbine, it also helps balance the torque reaction. The novel device has been built using methodologies and experience from other related sectors, including naval architecture, offshore wind power, oil & gas. The design of the platform allows for access to the machinery during operation, without the need to disconnect the turbine. The ATIR 2.0 device design has been certified with a "Basic Design Assessment" by Bureau Veritas.

History The company was founded in 2009 by Alejandro Marques de Magallanes. In 2013–2014, a small-scale version of the ATIR device was tested at the EMEC nursery test site in Shapinsay Sound, although this was not grid-connected. The sea trials commences on 28 November 2013. The device was 1:10 scale, 6 metres (20 ft) long and 2.3 m (7.5 ft) wide, with a three-hull Trimaran design, however subsequent versions only have a single hull. The project reportedly cost 1.2m$US (about £0.73m, €0.89), funded through the European Marine Renewables Infrastructure Network (Marinet) project, government agencies in Spain, and private investors.

ATIR testing at EMEC In 2019, the 1.5 MW ATIR device was deployed at the EMEC Fall of Warness site, near the island of Eday. It was deployed in February and connected to the electricity grid in March 2019, generating power shortly after. This device has two 19 m (62 ft) diameter rotors mounted below a 45 m (148 ft) long hull. The device was constructed in Spain in the Ria de Vigo and launched in 2017 followed by a period of tow testing in Vigo bay. More than 20 tests were carried out in seven towing operations. The device generated up to 450 kW, limited by the power of the tug. It was then towed to Orkney in September 2018, after which it was installed and tested at EMEC. In 2020, the device was towed to Edinburgh for maintenance in the Imperial Dry Dock at the Port of Leith, before returning to site in April 2021. To enter the dock, the device had to be tipped onto its side using buoys. The testing at EMEC was initially funded through the European OCEAN_2G project (Second Generation technologies in ocean Energy) coordinated by SAGRES SL, the parent company of Magallanes Renovables. Further funding through the Interreg OceanDEMO and the MaRINET2 projects allowed the testing to be extended beyond the initial two years. Testing of the device was completed in 2023, after which the device was towed back to Vigo, Spain.

First commercial projects Magallanes Tidal Energy has been awarded Contracts for Difference (CfD) in Allocation Rounds AR4–AR6 to supply subsidised electricity to the GB National Grid for several projects. These include a farm of six turbines at Morlais, North Wales, and three more at EMEC in Orkney, Scotland, as shown in the table below. These will use the second-generation ATIR 2.0 device, which Magallanes completed the engineering design of in 2023.

Future plans Magallanes hope to install their devices in other locations, including Spain, noting that the Strait of Gibraltar has significant potential.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Magallanes Renovables

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Magallanes Renovables claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Magallanes Renovables before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Magallanes Renovables ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Magallanes Renovables

In research: Magallanes Renovables appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Magallanes Renovables in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Magallanes Renovables is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Renewable energy, Tidal power, Tidal power in Scotland, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Magallanes Renovables outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Magallanes Renovables in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Magallanes Renovables means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Magallanes Renovables out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Magallanes Renovables in simple terms?

Why does Magallanes Renovables matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Magallanes Renovables?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Magallanes Renovables.