Atlantis takes wraps off world's largest tidal turbine

The world's largest tidal turbine was yesterday unveiled at a facility in Invergordon, Scotland, marking the culmination of a decade of development activity and moving tidal power one step closer to commercial viability.

The AK1000 was developed by Atlantis Resources Corporation, a developer of electricity-generating tidal current turbines, and is due to be installed on the sea bed and connected to the grid at a dedicated berth at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney later this summer.

The company said the turbine is capable of generating enough electricity for more than 1,000 homes and is designed for harsh weather and rough, open ocean environments such as those off the Scottish coast.

The giant AK1000 turbine has an 18 metre rotor diameter, weighs 130 tonnes and stands 22.5 metres high. It is capable of dispatching 1MW of predictable power at a water velocity of 2.65m/s.

Atlantis chief executive Timothy Cornelius said the unveiling and installation of the turbine marked an important milestone for the marine power industry in the UK.

"The AK1000 is capable of unlocking the economic potential of the marine energy industry in Scotland and will greatly boost Scotland's renewable generation capacity in the years to come," he said. "Today is not just about our technology, it is about the emergence of tidal power as a viable asset class that will require the development of local supply chains employing local people to deliver sustainable energy to the local grid. The AK1000 takes the industry one step closer to commercial-scale tidal power projects."

Atlantis claims the AK1000 development programme has already injected more than £5m into the UK's renewable energy sector and has provided employment across a broad range of sectors including design, engineering, fabrication and project management.

"We are at the start of a new industrial boom, akin to the development of the North Sea oil and gas fields," said Cornelius. "If we receive the same support from all levels of government that the oil and gas industry received to make the North Sea the success that it is, then the future is very bright for marine power and even brighter for Scotland."