Orbital Marine Power to head multi-turbine tidal energy project

Business Developments & Projects

October 25, 2023, by Ajsa Habibic

Scotland-based renewable energy company Orbital Marine Power, together with its project partners, has been selected by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Programme to deliver a multi-turbine tidal energy project EURO-TIDES.

9.6MW tidal turbine array to be connected in a world first. Courtesy of Orbital Marine Power

EURO-TIDES is the EUROpean Tidal energy pilot farm focused on Industrial Design, Environmental mitigation and Sustainability. The project is expected to deliver a step change in the wider commercialization for the scale deployment of Orbital’s technology.

It will do so through targeted work to demonstrate manufacturing solutions compatible with series production, optimization of long-term operation and maintenance programs while also accumulating accelerated operational performance data around Orbital’s technology.

The EURO-TIDES project will also work to bring forward commercial-scale tidal projects in French waters to augment Orbital’s existing commercial project portfolio in the UK and overseas.

Apart from Orbital, the project will bring together expertise from Ocean Energy Europe, Laborelec, Marasoft, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Center for Wind Power Drives (CWD) of RWTH Aachen University, Energie De La Lune, and the University of Edinburgh.

The European Commission has identified that transitioning from single turbine deployments to multi-turbine arrays is the next important milestone for the tidal stream sector as it moves towards contributing towards net zero targets in the UK, EU, and beyond.

Andrew Scott, CEO of Orbital Marine Power, said: “Orbital is committed to ensuring tidal stream energy makes a material contribution to decarbonizing energy systems while supporting a just transition through the creation of a new industrial sector. The endorsement that comes from this selection is a huge boost to that objective while also enabling us, and our project partners, to accelerate that positive vision. We are looking forward to moving forwards with EURO-TIDES at pace early in 2024.”