The 550t turbine has been unveiled at Harland & Wolff Heavy Industries’ (H&W) shipyard in Belfast for preliminary tow trials.
Claimed to the world’s largest of its kind, the tidal turbine represents the company’s first commercial scale machine and follows completion of 12 years of detailed and incremental engineering research and development program.
Scotrenewables CEO Andrew Scott said: "We’re now looking forward to getting the machine up to EMEC and start the test program to demonstrate more of the clear engineering and cost advantages our approach can bring to the commercial tidal sector."
The firm will later tow the turbine to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, UK, to begin grid connected testing.
DP Energy CEO Simon de Pietro said: "The sector is now beyond its emerging phase and the SR2000 device is a bold step forward proving the viability of tidal as a sustainable, reliable and predictable energy source."
Backed by £1.25m funding under the Scottish Government’s Waters2 initiative, the project has also received further investment of more than £25m from ABB, the Scottish government’s Renewable Energy Investment Fund, DP Energy, Fred Olsen Group and Total New Energies.
H&W CEO Robert Cooper said: "We are very pleased to be able to deliver this state of the art device and to help Scotland and Northern Ireland develop new energy generating technologies."
Image: Scotrenewables’ SR2000 tidal turbine. Photo: courtesy of Scotrenewables Tidal Power.
