In what is being hailed as a world first for the tidal energy industry, a set of offshore tidal turbines off the coast of the Shetland islands has just been connected to the grid.
The Shetland Tidal Array is situated in the Bluemull Sound, a strait between the North Shetland islands of Unst and Yell and consists of a total of five turbines, each with a generational capacity of 100 kilowatts. So far, two of the five turbines have been made fully operational, generating power for the Shetland island’s local grid.
The Array has been built by an Edinburgh based company called Nova Innovation, whose managing director, Simon Forrest, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be the first company in the world to deploy a fully operational tidal array.” Nova co-funded the project with the help of Belgian renewables company ELSA.
The first turbine was turned on back in March this year and at the time, ELSA’s managing director, Oliver Bontems, said: “The successful deployment of the first turbine in the Shetland Tidal Array has been a great experience and cements the relationship between the Nova team in Scotland and our people in Belgium. It was a moment of pride to see the Belgian flag under the sea on an operational tidal turbine.”
Nova hope that their M100 turbines which make up the array will now begin to be sold around the world, now that their commercial viability has been proven. It is being hailed as a milestone for the tidal energy industry – an industry that has been struggling to get off the ground recently.
WWF Scotland director, Lang Banks, praised the success, hoping that it kick starts a general push in favour of tidal power.
He said: “News that power has been exported to grid for the first time by a pair of tidal devices marks yet another major milestone on Scotland’s journey to becoming a fully renewable nation.
“With some of the most powerful tides in Europe, Scotland is well placed to lead in developing this promising technology, which will help to cut climate emissions and create green jobs right across the country.”
Tidal power is seen as important since it is a good source of predictable, reliable renewable energy. The UK Carbon Trust predict that by the year 2050, the world tidal energy market should expand to be worth more than £125 billion. Other projects are already in the pipeline, with French marine energy firm OpenHydro is on the cusp of connecting together two tidal generators off the coast of North West France. These tidal generators, once complete and connected, will have a capacity of 1 megawatt (1,000 kilowatts).
