The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Ground-breaking O2 tidal turbine to be built in Dundee
Project will create up to 100 ‘sustainable’ jobs in the city
A ground-breaking new tidal turbine will be manufactured in Dundee and create up to 100 jobs.
TEXO Group has signed a multimillion-pound contract to construct Orbital Marine Power’s first commercial tidal turbine from its base at the Port of Dundee.
The Orbital O2 is capable of generating over 2MW from tidal stream resources and will become the world’s most powerful tidal turbine when it enters operation by the end of 2020.
It is understood the contract with Texo Group is for a substantial portion of the overall build cost, which is around £9 million.
Robert Dalziel, managing director of Texo Group, said: “The O2 is a pioneering project that will transform the future of tidal energy on a global scale and will be a showcase for the very best in Scottish engineering.
“Our team has a wealth of experience in marine engineering with particular expertise in offshore oil and gas – this project enables us to showcase our vast capabilities for the offshore renewables sector.”
The development of the O2 follows Orkney-based Orbital’s SR2000 tidal turbine, which generated more power in the past year than the entire Scottish marine energy sector managed in the 12 years prior to its launch.
Andrew Scott, Orbital’s chief executive, said: “This is a flagship engineering project for the emerging tidal sector and we are delighted to be working with Texo Group to showcase the very capable supply chain we are fortunate to have around us in Scotland and the wider UK.
“The results that we achieved with the SR2000 over the past two years are a convincing validation of our low-cost approach to generating clean, predictable power from tidal stream energy.
“The Orbital team are really excited to be building on that success with the O2 which we are confident will further reduce costs and cement our position at the forefront of this exciting new renewable sector.”
John Alexander, leader of Dundee City Council, said the deal shows the city’s focus on renewables was “paying off”.
He said: “This announcement is a huge boost for the city, both in terms of economic benefit and confidence in our facilities and workforce.
“Following significant investments by a number of companies already this year, this is another example of the hard work that has gone into bringing renewables jobs and investment to Dundee paying off.
“We have a good track record in this hugely important sector and we are strategically well positioned to supply the coastal infrastructure, worldleading supply chain and skills needed to deliver high-quality, sustainable jobs to the city that pay the Living Wage and offer future opportunities for our young people.”
David Webster, senior port manager at Port of Dundee, added: “This project demonstrates the capacity of the Port of Dundee to handle major renewable energy projects and the flexibility to work with our partners here in the port to make initiatives such as the O2 become a reality.”
The O2 project has been financed in a number of ways, including EU Horizon 2020 funding and a £7m crowdfunding bond which Orbital successfully raised at the start of the year, one of the largest peer-to-peer debentures in UK history.
Dundee’s aspirations to become a major hub for the renewables and decommissioning industry have been long held. Now it looks as though that ambition is finally becoming a reality.
Earlier this summer Shell’s Curlew FPSO was brought alongside at Dundee Port for a deep cleaning operation prior to it being broken up for scrap.
Work on that contract was suspended temporarily last month after a health and safety related issue during a tank cleaning operation.
However, the contract is continuing and the hope is that others will follow in its wake.
Now, TEXO Group has announced it is to create 100 jobs in Dundee as part of a manufacturing effort to build an innovative new tidal turbine.
The 2MW turbines will be amongst the world’s most powerful in-water devices.
The placing of the build contract to a Dundee facility in the face of global competition is a sign the city is making a considerable splash within the wider renewables sector.
Such a milestone is unlikely to have been achieved without the multi-million investment in the docks by Forth Ports, the availability of top quality talent and the longstanding efforts to build out a supply chain locally.
After years of disappointment, it is welcome that the city is finally starting make waves in this space.