The world’s most powerful tidal turbine has been launched in the waters of Scotland

The company Orbital Marine Power has launched the most powerful tidal turbine in the waters of Scotland. It is called Orbital O2, and its power reaches 2 MW. In the near future, it will be connected to the European Center for Marine Energy. The construction of the 680-ton turbine began in 2019. The length of the structure is 74 meters, the length of the blades is 10 meters, the coverage area of the blades is more than 600 m2.

The turbine’s capacity is enough to provide electricity to about 2,000 UK households and compensate for about 2,200 tons of carbon dioxide per year. In addition, the creation of a floating power plant provided 80 people with work, so Orbital Marine Power believes that it has already made a certain contribution to the economy of its native country. Given that only 20% of O2 parts are imported, in patriotic Britain (and especially in Scotland), this approach can be a very big advantage for the company.

However, there is no clarity with further plans yet. It is assumed that several more such installations will soon appear in the waters around the Orkney Islands, but no dates were given.