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A Scottish tidal energy developer has taken a decisive step towards creating its first floating tidal turbine farm.

Orbital Marine Power is manufacturing its first commercial turbine, the 2MW O2, after long-term testing and development of previous versions of the technology.

The O2 will be the world's most powerful tidal turbine, capable of delivering energy for more than 1700 homes.

Now the company has signed up for a second berth at Orkney's European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), paving the way for a second, connected turbine at the site.

The first O2 turbine is currently expected to be grid connected at EMEC by the end of the year with a view to being fully operational in early 2021.

A second turbine will be installed at EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal energy test site, off Orkney’s northern island of Eday, in 2022, providing a 4MW array.

Power exported from the turbines, via EMEC’s subsea cable and onshore substation, will feed the national grid in Orkney. During the previous testing campaign of the company’s SR2000 turbine in 2018, up to 25 per cent of the Orkney electricity demand was met by the single prototype at times.

Andrew Scott, chief executive at Orbital Marine Power, said: “We are delighted to have secured this second berth; it’s a vital step towards delivery of our first tidal array. The current O2 build is progressing in line with expectations, thanks to a fantastic supply chain we have working with us, and this second berth provides us the opportunity to set the vision for how we are going to further the commercialisation of our industry-leading technology and accelerate the deployment of tidal energy at scale globally.”

Orbital O2 2MW tidal turbine.

Orbital raised £7 million in crowdfunding to deliver the first O2 turbine along with being awarded £3.4 million by the Scottish Government through the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund. The O2 project is also being supported with European funding via the Horizon 2020 FloTEC project and Interreg NWE ITEG project.

Neil Kermode, managing director at EMEC, said: “This is fantastic news for the tidal energy industry which has been going from strength to strength over the last three years as more gigawatt hours have been fed into the grid than ever before.

“The first floating tidal energy farm marks another step forward for the sector which is demonstrating that it will be a vital part of the world’s drive towards net zero.”