Scotland set to be a world leader with first subsea tide energy farm

Scotland is set to lead the world in harnessing a new form of green energy by developing the first commercial tidal stream energy plant on the planet.

Lunar Energy, a leading Scottish renewables company, has joined forces with E.ON UK, the company which runs Powergen, to announce pioneering plans to develop a subsea tidal stream power farm off the west coast of Britain within the next two years.
The proposed scheme will use tidal streams – fast-moving currents created by rising and falling tides – to turn an array of eight massive turbines, each more than 20 metres high and sited on the sea floor up to 120 metres below the surface.

The underwater power system will be capable of generating up to eight megawatts of electricity, enough power to supply 5,000 homes.

But the potential for the new form of renewable energy around Britain’s coastline could be enormous, with future “sea farms” varying in size from 25 to 100 individual units.

William Law , the chairman of Lunar Energy, said: “This is a significant milestone in our programme to establish a UK-led sustainable worldwide tidal stream energy industry, which will offer predictable and sustainable energy in an environmentally friendly manner.

Scotsman