Tidal energy array to double in north of Scotland

Crown Estate Scotland has awarded Nova Innovation an option to develop a 15MW tidal array at Yell Sound, in the Shetland Isles archipelago, to power what it predicts will be a third of household electricity in Shetland.

Tidal turbines sit on the seabed and are therefore invisible on the surface of the ocean and ships are free to pass between them. Because they are driven by non-stop ocean currents, whether the wind blows or not is immaterial, unlike with wind turbines.

Nova will double its existing three turbines to six.

“Having been at the centre of the oil and gas industry for 50 years, Shetland is now at the forefront of the green energy revolution, and we are excited to play our part in decarbonising the Shetland Islands,” said Nova Innovation CEO Simon Forrest.

Nova Innovation was set up in 2010. In 2018 it partnered carmaker Tesla to combine energy storage with its tidal turbine technology, which it said was the world’s first grid-connected tidal power station.

MoU and funding wins

In July last year, Nova Innovation and French firm Sabella joined forces to develop tidal energy projects in French and UK waters.

The Memorandum of Understanding pledged to accelerate development of tidal energy sites for both companies, combining expertise to drive rapid scale-up of installed capacity in the tidal energy sector in the UK and France.

The alliance will include co-operation across French and UK sites, driving down costs, catalysing opportunities for funding, and delivering economies of scale.

It also accords with a November 2020 European Commission Offshore Strategy, which set out the challenge of delivering marine energy capacity targets of 100MW by 2025, and 1GW by 2030.  

The future for tides is looking bright, with Nova winning €2.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Fund to upscale its 100kW tidal turbine in December last year. It says the finance will pay for a two-year campaign to design, build and demonstrate an upgraded version of the turbines.