Engineering news
The MeyGen Project, the world’s largest free stream tidal power project was inaugurated by Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland. The ceremony took place on the quayside at the Nigg Energy Park, where the first of the four 1.5MW turbines that make up Phase 1A was unveiled.
The turbines stand 15m tall, boast blades of 18m in diameter and weigh almost 200 tonnes each. Three of the units were built by Andritz ad the fourth is a AR1500 Atlantis turbine. All four units will be deployed to the MeyGen site in the Pentland Firth using the Neptune jack-up vessel operated by Geoseas, a subsidiary of the DEME Group.
Sturgeon said: “I am incredibly proud of Scotland’s role in leading the way in tackling climate change and investment in marine renewables is a hugely important part of this.
“MeyGen is set to invigorate the marine renewables industry in Scotland … 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.”
The unveiling follows the MeyGen project’s successful connection 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 (SHEPD). Atlantis remains on track to deliver first power to the grid from MeyGen Phase 1A later this year – and when completed, the project will consist of 269 turbines and generate enough energy to power 175,000 UK homes.
Tim Cornelius, chief executive of Atlantis Resources, added: “It gives me enormous pride to have reached this juncture after 10 years of tireless work, preparation and planning by everyone associated with this project.
“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. We look forward to commissioning this phase of the project and then focusing on achieving financial close of Phase 1B, as soon as possible.”