FAUN has been engaged to manufacture four steel anchor structures, along with bespoke mooring connectors, that will be installed in the Fall of Warness, Orkney where Orbital has an existing berth and grid connection with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).
The O2 is an optimized version of Orbital’s successful SR2000 turbine and with an ability to generate in excess of 2MW the O2, like the SR2000 before it, will become the world’s most powerful tidal turbine when it enters operation later in 2020 at EMEC.
Commenting on the contract award Orbital CEO, Andrew Scott, said, “This is a transformational project for Orbital, and for the tidal sector, and these anchors will have the important job of holding the O2 on station so it can generate gigawatt hours of clean, predictable power from the strong tides we have around Orkney.”
“It is really positive to see FAUN moving into this innovative low carbon sector successfully and for Welsh companies to be supporting world leading UK tidal developers,” said David Jones, Director for Marine Energy Wales.
While these anchors are destined for Scottish waters, Orbital is also a berth holder at the Morlais tidal energy project venture off Anglesey in North Wales which is seeking to provide a route to larger arrays of tidal turbines.
