The Scottish Government announced it has awarded a funding of £3.4 million to Scottish engineering company Orbital Marine Power (Orbital), to help build the world’s most powerful floating tidal turbine.
The company was awarded the money as the first recipient of the Scottish Government’s £10 million Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund.
The funding will be used to deliver the next generation O2 2MW Floating Tidal Energy Turbine, capable of powering more than 1,700 homes per year.
We believe tidal energy technology can not only play an important role in our own future energy system, but it has substantial export potential and this fund will help move tidal technologies closer to commercial deployment, said Scotland’s Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse.
The £10 million Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund, which supports the development of tidal energy in Scotland, was announced in February this year and is open until 6 December 2019.
The 72 metre long O2, capable of generating more than 2MW from tidal stream resources, will be built in Scotland and installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.
Its turbine rotors can be turned 360° to allow power to be extracted from both tidal directions.
The O2 project will demonstrate how this emerging industrial sector has the ability to deliver new jobs and open up diversification opportunities for the UK’s supply chain in a growing global market whilst pioneering solutions for a zero carbon future, noted Orbital’s CEO Andrew Scott.
Source: Safety4Sea