Tidal energy firm expands on world first in Shetland
Tidal energy firm Nova Innovation has completed the first stage of a major investment to expand the capacity of its pioneering project in Shetland.
The Edinburgh- based company launched the world’s first grid- connected tidal array in Bluemull Sound in 2016 and has now installed the first of three new turbines which will double the size of the project.
The turbine - named Eunice – is the next generation of devices developed by Nova which it said slashes the cost of tidal energy by a third and makes it competitive with fossil fuels.
The Shetland project is part of t he pan- European Enabling Future Arrays in Tidal initiative, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.
The scheme aims to drive commercialisation of the tidal energy sector by improving reliability and reducing costs. Nova partnered with Belgian renewable energy developer ELSA to develop the Shetland Tidal Array.
S i mon Fo r r e s t , who c o - f ounded Nova i n a s hed a decade ago, said the company had “achieved what many thought impossible”. “We are generating electricit y from the i mmense power of our seas. Our proven technology is displacing fossil fuels and changing the way we power our lives.”
Forrest said he was “ver y exc i t e d” a b out t he f ut ure p o t e n t i a l o f t i d a l e n e rg y. “The global potential for this untapped, abundant and valuable source of renewable energy is enormous. We are driving down costs and branching into new markets to make tidal energy mainstream. By 2030, tidal energy will be cheaper than nuclear power and fossil fuels, providing cleaner and sustainable energy for coastal communities around the world.”
Matthijs Soede of the European Commission said the Shetland project will “demonstrate a clear cost reduction pathway for tidal energy”.
“The project will deliver a bank of evidence for its environmental and socio- economic benefits.
"We should be able to apply these learnings and technologies to settings across the world – putting tidal power firmly at the forefront of our energy transition.”
Late last year Nova secured permission a permit to develop a 1.5MW tidal array in Nova S cotia, Canada. I t plans t o install 15 tidal stream turbines to generate enough power for 600 homes.
The company's l i cence to drill its tidal turbines into the seabed off Nova Scotia was a rare forray for a Scottish renewable energy pioneer into an overseas market.
In 2016, Nova said its offshore tidal array at Bluemull Sound off Shetland had become the first in the world to deliver electricity to the grid.
Some components for the array in Canada will be made in Edinburgh, although engineering work on the seabed platform and turbine rotors will be carried out in Canada.
At the time, Nova Innovation chief executive Simon Forrest said: "In the face of the climate emergency, we are on a mission to transform the power of the oceans across the world into clean, predicable energy.”
"At five times the size of our array in Shetland, which is the first of its kind in the world, this project is a massive step forward for Nova Innovation and the sector - propelling Nova Scotia to a leading position in tidal energy."