Scotrenewables looking at commercial future as tidal demo shows promise

Scotrenewables Tidal Power Ltd plans to begin building a 2-MW commercial unit of its floating tidal stream turbine later this year, the company said today, while announcing that the demonstrator installed in Scottish waters has achieved record production.

The first SR2000 floating tidal stream turbine deployed by Scotrenewables has generated more than 3 GWh of electricity in its first year of testing at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland. This equals the annual electricity demand of about 830 UK homes and is enough to meet more than 25% of the power consumption of the Orkney Islands, the company said in a statement.

Moreover, Scotrenewables noted that the 3 GWh generated over the 12-month period exceed the power produced by the entire wave and tidal energy sectors in Scotland in the 12 years prior to the launch of the particular device.

“Despite being an R&D project, and it being our first full scale turbine, its first year of testing at EMEC has delivered a performance level approaching that of widely deployed mature renewable technologies,” commented CEO Andrew Scott. He, however, expressed disappointment that there is a total lack of market support in the UK for this technology. “[W]e have no option but to focus our business on overseas opportunities,” Scott added.

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