World tidal energy first for Northern Ireland

The world’s first turbine to create commercial amounts of electricity from tidal energy is to be installed in Northern Ireland.

Marine Current Turbines (MCT) said the installation of its SeaGen commercial energy system at the mouth of Strangford Lough would begin in August.

The lough has one of the fastest tidal flows in the world.
SeaGen will produce electricity for about 1,000 homes. It is the biggest turbine of its kind in the world.

It will have the capacity to produce 1.2MW of electricity – four times more than any other tidal turbine.

It will operate in Strangford Lough for up to five years and is expected to be the prototype for commercial applications of the technology.

BBC