Around the world, major utility companies are taking part in large-scale renewable energy projects, driving down costs and increasing the amount of renewable electricity supplied to regional grids. Marine energy generates clean, predictable and reliable electricity that is easily accessible from many densely populated areas and major utility grids near coastlines and along large rivers. The first multi-device deployments are realised, paving the way for large scale marine energy farms.

Showcases

Tidal power farm at Orkney Islands

In 2016 Orbital Marine Power launched the full commercial scale SR2000 at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney. The 3GWh generated over 12 months by the SR2000 was more power than that generated by the entire wave and tidal energy sectors in Scotland over the previous 12 years. Orbital is currently building the O2, which when it is completed at the end of 2020, will comprise of a 73m long floating superstructure, supporting two 1 MW turbines at either side for a nameplate power output of 2MW, making it the most powerful tidal turbine in the world. Having also secured another berth at EMEC in March 2020, Orbital is on its way to delivering their first floating tidal turbine farm, which will provide massive job opportunities within the tidal industry and across the manufacturing supply chain.

Largest tidal power farm in Scotland

MeyGen is the world’s largest tidal farm, powered by 4 turbines developed by Andritz Hydro Hammerfest and SIMEC Atlantis Energy and installed in 2016. In 2019 alone, MeyGen exported over 13.8 GWh of predictable renewable electricity to the national grid, equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of around 3800 typical UK homes generating a revenue of £ 3.9 m.

First offshore floating solar farm in the North Sea

Offshore solar systems are a gamechanger for renewable energy, solving issues with land usage by using the space available at sea. Modular systems from 5 KW to 100 MW can be deployed at any location, including harsh environments and hurricane areas. In 2019, Oceans of Energy successfully installed modules of the world’s first offshore floating solar farm in the Dutch North Sea. Since November 2019, the system has survived the first winter storms.