Giant tidal device set for tests off Orkney

The BBC has a report on testing of a tidal power design in Scotland - Giant tidal device set for tests off Orkney.

A giant underwater turbine which could form the worlds first tidal power array has been deployed off Orkney. The 100ft-high 1MW (megawatt) Hammerfest Strom HS1000 device was installed by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). It will now undergo tests in preparation for larger-scale production and deployment.

Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) hopes to use the design for a planned array in the Sound of Islay. The device has been developed by Hammerfest Strom, a company partly owned by SPR parent firm Iberdrola. Its substructure was constructed in the Arnish Yard, near Stornoway, in Lewis.

SPR intends to develop a 10MW tidal array in Islay after receiving planning consent from the Scottish government in March this year.

The HS1000 device, which SPR said could power the annual electricity needs of 500 homes, is expected to be fully operational in early 2012. The tests will also help to finalise the timetable for the Islay project, with machines being installed "as early as feasible" between 2013 and 2015.