The Rolls Royce of tidal power

Those who think renewable energy is a ‘green gimmick’ may change their minds on learning that Rolls-Royce, probably the most prestigious engineering company in the world, is seriously into tidal turbines. It has just announced that the prototype turbine it set up off the Orkney Islands has generated and fed over 100 megawatt hours (MWh) of electrical power into the national grid.

Robert Stevenson, Vice-President of Rolls-Royce Power Ventures said their now proven tidal technology could generate up to 30TWh (terawatt-hours) of UK electricity, enough to power 3 million homes.

The three-bladed turbine is attached by a tripod to the seabed. Fully submerged at a water depth of 40 metres and invisible from the surface, it continually rotates to face the incoming tide at an optimal angle. The turbine unit is semi-buoyant and can be easily towed, so it doesn’t need a specialist vessel for its maintenance.

Neil Morgan, Head of Energy at the Technology Strategy Board said: “This is a significant milestone for the UK marine renewables industry. The UK is well-placed to exploit tidal stream energy resources and, if commercialised on a large scale, this technology could be an important part of the renewable energy mix we’ll need in the future.”