A tidal power device designed by engineering group Rolls-Royce has become the first to supply more than 100 megawatt (MW) hours of electricity to the national grid.
The firm’s subsidiary, Tidal Generation, designed and built the 500kilowatt tidal turbine prototype, currently deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC) offshore test site off Orkney.
It is the first EMEC-located project to both receive renewable obligation certificates and reach 100MW hours of supply to the grid.
Robert Stevenson, Rolls-Royce, vice-president Power Ventures, said: “Reaching the 100MG hours milestone highlights the significant potential of cleaner, greener tidal power as part of a diversified UK energy mix.”
As part of the Energy Technologies Institute-funded ReDAPT (Reliable Data Acquisition Platform for Tidal) consortium project, Rolls-Royce is also currently building a 1MW tidal turbine demonstration unit that will be deployed in mid-2012 at EMEC in Orkney.
Rolls-Royce says the project will deliver detailed environmental and performance information never before achieved at this scale in real sea conditions.
The company is also working with a number of developers in advancing demonstration arrays, systematic arrangements of turbines, which could lead to large scale commercial deployment.