EU Provides £3M Tidal Energy Boost to European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney
Published on June 10 2016
The 100kw PLAT-O tidal turbine prepares for submergence tests in Orkney at the European Marine Energy Centre. The developer, Isle of Wight-based Sustainable Marine Energy, recently re-located its marine operations base to Hatston Pier, Orkney.
The European Commission has awarded just over £3 million to support tidal energy testing and demonstration in Orkney waters. Awarded under the Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) scheme, the funding is split between two projects – the InToTidal project and Ocean 2G
Led by Tocardo, the InToTidal project will demonstrate integrated deployment solutions for the company's well-developed tidal turbines. The project's partners are the Orkney-based European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Leask Marine and Ifremer. The Ocean 2G project is being led by tidal power developer Magallanes, and brings together EMEC, Leask MArine and ABB to help develop the second generation Magallanes tidal technology.
Oliver Wragg, EMEC Commercial Director, commented: “This is fantastic news for the ocean energy sector. I'm delighted that the EU is supporting full-scale testing and demonstration to help progress towards a commercially-viable industry.
“It's hard to secure private investment for real sea testing of ocean energy technologies so grant support is vital at this stage of development.
“But combined with EMEC's wave and tidal testing infrastructure which has been designed to minimise the cost of ‘getting metal wet', we have a winning combination to prove technology performance and help leverage private investment in the sector."