29th July 2021
1:02 am
28th July 2021
4:01 pm
The world’s most powerful tidal turbine – Orbital O2 – has commenced grid connected power generation at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
Moving the Orbital O2 (Image: Orbital Marine Power)
Orbital Marine Power’s 2MW O2 – a floating turbine anchored in the Fall of Warness – is connected via a subsea cable to the local onshore electricity network.
About 15m below the O2’s 72m-long superstructure, two fully integrated power trains from SKF are attached on two wing-like legs. Here the twin-bladed rotors rotate, each with a diameter of 21m, the largest ever on a single generating platform to date, driven by the tidal current.