The company launched the 550 tonne turbine at Harland & Wolff Heavy Industries Ltd in Belfast on Thursday May 12th. It will undergo preliminary tow trials in Belfast Lough before being towed to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney to commence a grid connected test programme.
The SR2000 is the culmination of more than 12 years of a detailed and incremental engineering R&D programme, with the project being supported by £1.25 million funding under the the Scottish Government’s WATERS2 initiative. The company’s progress has also been underpinned by longstanding support and investment of more than £25 million from main investors ABB, (Scottish Government’s) Renewable Energy Investment Fund, DP Energy, Fred. Olsen Group and Total New Energies.
Steel fabrication of the machine was carried out by fabricators in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England with assembly and commissioning of the SR2000 taking place at Harland & Wolff shipyard over the past 12 months, drawing on H&W’s 150 years of marine manufacturing experience.
“This is an exciting time for the Company and a major milestone to reach, and is the result of an enormous effort by a dedicated team at Scotrenewables” said Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Scott. “We’ve also been fortunate to have been supported by a committed group of suppliers through the build, especially here with Harland and Wolff in Belfast.”
Mr Scott added that the company is looking forward to getting the machine up to EMEC and starting the test programme in order to demonstrate more of the engineering and cost advantages the company’s particular approach can bring to the commercial tidal sector. According to Simon de Pietro, CEO of DP Energy and key investor in the project, the tidal energy sector is now rapidly approaching maturity, having moved beyond its emerging phase.
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