Scotland's MeyGen Tidal Power Plan Gets Green Light

The government has agreed the first, demonstration, stage of the world's first industrial-scale tidal energy project, to be located off the Orkney Islands.

Consent has been given to the MeyGen consortium for a  a 9MW demonstration project at the 3.5 sq km development site, located in water depths of 20-40 metres off the north coast of Caithness where tides surge through at some five metres per second.

The MeyGen tidal stream project is at the forefront of world marine energy development and intends to harvest the tidal resource of one of the most energetic sites in Europe. MeyGen Limited is a joint venture between investment bank Morgan Stanley (45%), independent power generator International Power (45%) and tidal technology provider Atlantis Resources Corporation (10%), dedicated to developing the Inner Sound tidal site.

The pilot is the first step towards the installation of an 86MW array, with MeyGen’s ultimate aim being the development of a near-400MW project.