RCS - Orbital Marine Power - New tidal energy project in Orkney waters
22/03/2023 13:15
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RNS Number : 7603T Orbital Marine Power Ltd 22 March 2023
22 March 2023
Orbital Marine Power Ltd
("Orbital" or the "company")
Orbital Marine Power unveils new 30MW tidal energy project in Orkney waters
Company plans include significant job creation and boost to its UK supply
chain plans.
Orbital Marine Power (Orbital), the renewable energy company focused on the
commercial deployment of its innovative floating tidal turbine technology,
announced it has been awarded an Option Agreement from Crown Estate Scotland
for a new tidal energy project in the Westray Firth.
Orkney-headquartered Orbital also confirmed it has a grid connection in place
to service the pioneering project, which is located adjacent to the European
Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) facility, where Orbital has already deployed the
2MW O2, the world's most powerful tidal turbine, under commercial operation.
Renewable projects in Orkney were recently given a boost by Ofgem announcing
it is minded to approve a new 220MW transmission connection, to be built from
the Scottish mainland to service renewable power exports from the islands.
Following the award of contracts for difference (CfDs) in last year's AR4
process, Orbital is already targeting the installation of three more of its
tidal turbines at the EMEC site, alongside the O2, to expand its tidal
generation capacity in the coming years.
In keeping with the company's strategy of carrying out major aspects of its
manufacturing within the UK, the construction of the Westray project would be
expected to result in over £120m of domestic supply chain spend and create
hundreds of jobs across construction and around a dozen new permanent jobs
locally to provide operations and maintenance services.
The Option Agreement is for 30MW, which would equate to approximately 12
Orbital devices installed across the site. The waters around Orkney have
significant wider tidal stream energy potential and the Westray site offers
just one example of how this can be harnessed to provide clean, predictable
power.
The Orbital team is engaged with stakeholders and is progressing environmental
studies, with a view to reaching consent application as soon as possible. The
company also brings the benefit of extensive local operational and
environmental data to help shape and inform optimal project design, having
successfully installed, operated and monitored multiple floating tidal
projects on the neighbouring EMEC site since 2011.
Andrew Scott, CEO at Orbital Marine Power, said: "As the UK looks to
accelerate the decarbonisation of its energy system, we firmly believe tidal
projects can bring unique benefits while harnessing a perfectly predictable
and secure source of renewable energy. We're proud to be building that vision
in Orkney with this investment in our Westray Project."
Alistair Carmichael, MP for Orkney and Shetland, said: "These are exciting
times for tidal stream energy. Progress with Orbital's Westray project is a
vote of confidence in the potential here in the isles and demonstrates exactly
why expanding grid capacity for Orkney has been so important.
"This good news is also evidence of the need for a more robust strategy from
the government on tidal stream deployment, including continued and expanded
backing in the next round of Contracts for Difference funding. We need to
continue to ramp up development in the years to come."
Sian Wilson, Crown Estate Scotland, said: "The Orbital team has successfully
secured development rights to progress the tidal energy site located in the
Westray Firth which offers a great opportunity to tap into the vast tidal
energy resource within Orkney Waters. The predictable nature of tidal energy
means such projects will perform a crucial role as we transition to a
decarbonised energy system and build Scotland's blue economy."
Ends
About Orbital Marine Power Ltd.
Orbital Marine Power (Orbital) is a visionary, Scotland-based, renewable
energy company focused on the development and global application of its
pioneering floating turbine technology.
The culmination of over 15 years of refinement has resulted in the world's
most powerful and advanced tidal stream turbine, the O2, which has been
exporting low carbon electricity to the UK grid since July 2021. The O2 is a
2MW+ product capable of being deployed in multi-unit arrays to provide
utility-scale, clean energy with almost zero visual impact.
Orbital's innovative, approach de-risks the commercial extraction of low
carbon energy from fast flowing currents by offering low manufacturing and
installation costs as well as the ability to carry out inexpensive, quick
servicing on all major turbine components through a proprietary structural
configuration.
Orbital has an established portfolio of further multi-MW tidal stream
projects, focused initially within UK waters, built on a global pipeline of
multi-GW opportunities.
More information about Orbital can be found here: www.orbitalmarine.com
(http://www.orbitalmarine.com)
The inspiring story of the O2, from concept to power generation, in under two
minutes can be viewed here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WolGiKMpFh8) .
About the O2
· The O2 is the world's most powerful tidal turbine, able to generate
2MW+.
· It was launched in 2021, as the first vessel to be launched from a
Dundee yard in 40 years.
· Its estimated CAPEX expenditure in the UK supply chain is around 80%,
with around 60 full time equivalent roles created through build.
· The O2 has been operational since July 2021 and exporting electricity
to Orkney grid is expected to offset around 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, and
power 1,700 UK homes while creating high value jobs within the local economy
over the course of its operational life.
· Orbital's floating technology captures the strongest tidal and river
currents, guaranteeing higher yield. These exist close to the surface, rather
than at the seabed.
Media contacts at Orbital Marine Power:
Sarah Clark, Marketing & Media Manager: s.clark@orbitalmarine.com
Tom Gillingham, Charlotte Street Partners:
tom.gillingham@charlottestreetpartners.com / 07741 659 021
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