(SCOTLAND)
A world-leading tidal energy project backed by the European Union (EU) is demonstrating the technologies capability to match the performance of offshore wind.
The SR2000 tidal turbine developed by Scotrenewables, which set a new international standard last month when it achieved a 2MW rated capacity, has generated – in a 24 hour period – energy equivalent to that produced by offshore wind turbines. The system, which is connected to the grid, is currently being tested at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.
“Recognising we are still in the early stages of our demonstration programme this is a tremendously reassuring level of performance to be achieving, one which provides further confidence in our technology’s ability to deliver a significant step reduction in the cost of energy from tidal stream and meet our future customers’ needs,” said Andrew Scott, CEO of Scotrenewables.
The SR2000 is part of the FloTec initiative, being financed by the EU’s Horizon 2020 project, and is aimed at bringing the cost of the technology down to a level where it can be sold commercially.
Jonathan Meason, Scotrenewables’ Engineering Manager, added: “The SR2000 is providing invaluable experience and validation of our engineering – both of which are informing the optimisation exercise which we are undertaking within our flagship Horizon 2020 project; where we are confident we can considerably increase the performance from the system in parallel with reducing costs and risks.”
