Constructed by Orbital Marine Power, the O2 will ultimately be connected to the local electricity grid to help provide clean and sustainable energy to the communities of Orkney.
The world’s most powerful tidal turbine has taken the next step towards deployment in the Orkney Islands, an archipelago off the north-eastern coast of Scotland and home to some of the strongest tidal currents across the globe.
The O2 was developed and constructed with partial support from the EU-funded FloTEC and OCEANERA-NET COFUND projects.
The build of the O2 was also supported by the Scottish Government under the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund and enabled by a £7m commercial debenture from the Abundance Investment platform.
With its construction completed, the turbine was launched from the Port of Dundee on 22 April 2021 and arrived in Orkney waters 2 days later. The O2 was towed to Orkney by the C-Force, a 27.7-m multicat vessel belonging to Orbital’s project supplier Leask Marine.
The turbine is being temporarily moored at Deer Sound, a bay on the east coast of Orkney’s Mainland island. It will undergo commissioning while there. It will then be anchored at the Fall of Warness grid-connected tidal test site leased by FloTEC project partner The European Marine Energy Centre Ltd (EMEC) until 2040. Situated off the northern Orkney island of Eday, EMEC’s test site boasts tidal speeds of up to 4 m per second (about 8 knots).’