The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Texo Group to build tidal turbine in lucrative deal
● Contract with Orbital Marine could create up to a hundred jobs
An Aberdeenhead quartered firm has agreed a multi-millionpound deal to construct a groundbreaking new tidal turbine from its port-side base in Dundee.
The fabrication arm of Texo Group, which employs 35 staff in Dundee, said the deal with Orkney-based Orbital Marine Power to manufacture its new O2 tidal turbine will look to create up to 100 jobs at the firm.
The deal is understood to be a substantial portion of the overall build cost, which is between £8 and £9 million.
Texo Group’s managing director, Robert Dalziel, said the deal would show the “very best” in Scottish engineering as the firm switches over from oil and gas to renewables.
Orbital Marine Power, formerly Scotrenewables, reported an industry benchmark last August as
its SR2000 tidal turbine 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, the firm’s chief executive, said the new deal would “build on” Orbital’s recent success.
Manufacturing firm Burntisland Fabrication (BiFab) was also understood to be competing for the deal, meaning another lost contract for the Scottish Governmentbacked company.
Orbital Marine’s previous SR2000 device, launched in 2016, clocked up more than three gigawatt hours (GWhs) of electricity in its first year of testing at the European Marine Energy Centre (Emec) in Orkney.
Last year, the company confirmed it had scooped a crowd funding investment of £7m to support the build of the Orbital O2.
Mr Scott described the £7m as a “strong endorsement from the wider UK public of our vision”.
He added: “We 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.”
Multi-millionaire technology developer Matt McGrath was named as a new investor in the company last year, investing alongside the Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise.