A device which aims to harness the power of the tides off Scotland’s coast is thought to be the most tested in the world.
Hammerfest Strom UK, a subsidiary of the Norwegian tidal power developer Hammerfest Strom AS, received a £3.9m grant from the Carbon Trust in February to build and test the 1MW tidal power device at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
One MW of power is enough to power around 1000 homes.
The HS1000 device is based on a 300kW prototype which has been installed in Kvalsundet in Norway for six years.
That prototype was the first turbine in the world to convert kinetic energy in tidal waters to electricity and deliver to the grid in 2004, and is regarded as one of the most advanced tidal power technologies in the world.
With ScottishPower Renewables confirming plans to install the device as a prelude to a 10MW tidal array in the Sound of Islay, Scotland will soon effectively be home to the largest demonstration tidal power project in the world.
Keith Anderson, director of ScottishPower Renewables, said, “We firmly believe that the tidal turbine developed by Hammerfest Strom is the most advanced and rigorously tested device anywhere in the world.
“The deployment of the HS1000 device is a major milestone in Scotland’s ambitions to tap in to this new source of energy.”
After successful initial tests, the turbine in Kvalsundet has been going through a test period where it continues to produce electricity for the Norwegian grid and is monitored to detect further improvements in technology that could be applied to future generations of the turbine.
ScottishPower Renewables confirmed it is to enter its Ness of Duncansby tidal farm in the Pentland Firth into the £10m Saltire Prize for marine energy innovation.
The prize has been put up by the Scottish Government to attract interest in the sector, with the cash going to the team that can demonstrate a commercially viable wave of tidal stream energy technology that achieves the greatest volume of electrical output over a continuous two-year period.
Over 150 registrations of interest from 31 countries have already been received.