Japan tests electricity production by ocean currents

According to NHK Japan, for the first time, the country has successfully tested a new system for generating electricity by ocean currents.

TV news reports reported that the test was conducted on August 14 in the Kagoshima region in the southwestern part of the country. That is where the hot sea currents Kuroshio .

The Kuroshio or Japanese Wave is a current in the western Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Taiwan that flows northeastward across Japan, where it confluence with the eastern flow of the North Pacific Ocean Ocean.

The device has been dipped to a depth of 20 to 50m, with a maximum power of 30kW.

The Kuroshio Sea Stream is similar to the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean that transports warm tropical waters north to the polar region. Sometimes Kuroshio is also known as the "Black Sea" - because the meaning of the word kuroshio is black and is the image of the dark blue of sea water there.

The system is jointly developed by IHI Corporation and the New Energy Development and Industrial Technology Organization (NEDO). The system consists of 3 cylinders of metal, each cylinder is nearly 20m long. Two cylinders are equipped with generators on both sides with 11m diameter rotor blades.

During the test, the device was dipped to a depth of 20 to 50m, with a maximum power output of 30kW.

According to the developers, this is the world's first successful experiment for power generation by exploiting underwater flows.