Back to Blogs

Renewable Tidal Energy Record Smashed by Scottish Floating Turbine

  • Publish Date: Posted over 5 years ago
  • Author: Steve Walia

An innovative floating turbine system that uses renewable tidal stream energy has generated more renewable energy in just one year than Scotland was able to produce in twelve years from the wave and tidal sector as a whole.

Based just off the Orkney coast, the SR2000 turbine, which represents the latest in tidal stream technology, has been online for twelve months and is generating sufficient power in one year to power around 830 typical homes.

The turbine is the most powerful product of its kind on the global market, and it has set a new performance benchmark in the industry as a result, generating 3GW of clean and green renewable energy from its location at the European Marine Energy Centre.

Ofgem has said that in the 12 years before the turbine came online, Scotland's wave and tidal industries were able to generate 2.9GW collectively.

Scotrenewables Tidal Power SEO, Andrew Scott, said that the industry had a new benchmark to aspire to, with the first twelve months of testing delivering better results than more mature green technologies.

He added that the turbine also boasted the benefit of being easy to access for regular servicing, which helped to maintain a steady power supply, including over the difficult winter period. 

The news is highly positive for the tidal energy industry, especially when the results are combined with the 8GWh of generation produced by the four tidal turbines owned by MeyGen in the Pentland Firth, and it shows how the technology still has vast and as yet only partially tapped potential.

As a milestone, it also shows just how powerful Scotland is becoming in the global transition towards a cleaner and greener energy future, with its capabilities in the tidal energy field already clear at a global level.