World's Largest Tidal Turbine Installed Off Scottish Coast

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The world's largest commercial tidal energy turbine has been deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) off the coast of Scotland.

The SR2000 tidal turbine has a generating capacity of 2 megawatts (MW) and weighs in at almost 500 tonnes. It has been developed over the last 12 years by Scotrenewables Tidal Power (Orkney, Scotland) and represents the company's first commercial turbine. It is located in waters at EMEC's Fall of Warness tidal test site off the island of Orkney in the North Sea.

"We see it as a real feather in our cap that we've managed to execute a construction and installation program for a 2-MW turbine using only low-cost vessels," said Scotrenewables Chief Executive Officer Andrew Scott. "This will be a short installation but we'll be seeking to further emphasise clear benefits of our approach in the operational phase where much of the standard maintenance can be carried out with simple crew transfer vessels, and validate a game-changing reduction in cost of energy for the tidal sector."

Lindsay Roberts, Senior Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, added: "The first installation of the world's most powerful tidal turbine is yet another milestone for the sector in Scotland, and shows that with determination and skill even a small team can produce amazing things."

The tidal and marine energy sector in the U.K. is the most active in the world, although it has lost some key players and projects in recent years. Last year, Industrial Info reported that Scotland's first wave energy farm was put on hold for at least five years by struggling wave energy company Aquamarine Power Limited (Edinburgh, Scotland). It blamed technical issues for its decision to postpone plans to install wave energy devices with a combined capacity of up to 40 MW off the west coast of the island of Lewis. It had also received permission for a number of smaller projects.

A year earlier, seasoned marine energy company Pelamis Wave Power (Edinburgh, Scotland) went into administration. For additional information, see November 25, 2014, article - Scotland Pledges More Wave Energy Support.

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