Atlantis this week unveiled the first completed turbine for its MeyGen project at the Nigg Energy Park in Scotland. The project is set to be the world’s largest free stream tidal power project.
The first fully assembled turbine, standing 15 metres tall and with blades 18 metres in diameter, was unveiled by the Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon. The four 1.5MW turbines that make up Phase 1A (three built by Andritz and one AR1500 Atlantis turbine) weigh almost 200 tonnes each and have now been fully assembled. They will be positioned on top of their foundation structures on the quayside at Nigg ready for deployment to the MeyGen site in the Pentland Firth. The turbines and their foundations will be transported to the site by the Neptune jack-up vessel operated by Geoseas, a subsidiary of the DEME Group. Atlantis said it is “on track” to deliver first power to the grid from MeyGen Phase 1A later this year. When completed, the MeyGen project will consist of 269 turbines and generate 398MW.
See a video timelapse video of the turbine assembly here: Tidal turbine destined for commercial stream array revealed
The MeyGen project successfully connected to the 33kV Ness of Quoys distribution network in June 2016 following the installation of one of the longest underground 33kV power export cables in the UK by the network operator, Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution.
Tim Cornelius, chief executive of Atlantis Resources commented: “This is the day the tidal power industry announced itself as the most exciting new asset class of renewable, sustainable generation in the UK’s future energy mix.”
He added: “We look forward to commissioning this phase of the project and then focussing on achieving financial close of Phase 1B, as soon as possible.”
Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, said: “MeyGen is set to invigorate the marine renewables industry in Scotland and provide vital jobs for a skilled workforce, retaining valuable offshore expertise here in Scotland that would otherwise be lost overseas. Highly skilled operation and maintenance jobs will also need to be carried out locally, providing strong local employment opportunity for rural areas.”
She added: “But it is absolutely vital that the UK Government honours its earlier commitment to provide a ring-fenced allocation for marine energy in its renewables support scheme. They must tackle the current uncertainty that exists before they cause irreparable damage to the long term prospects for the sector.”
Related content:
Sustainable Marine Energy raises £4.5m investment for tidal array in Orkney
Ministers under pressure on tidal and nuclear as (current) Energy Bill nears finishing line
Atlantis tidal to share grid capacity with local wind farm
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