THE world’s most powerful tidal turbine was installed yesterday at the European Marine Energy Centre on Orkney.

Developed and manufactured by Scottish engineering company Scotrenewables Tidal Power Ltd, the turbine will now undergo site commissioning and testing.

The 2 MW SR2000 floating turbine was towed by Green Marine vessels from Kirkwall at 9am on yesterday and was connected to its moorings on the Fall of Warness before 3pm.

Scotrenewables chief executive Andrew Scott said: “This is a tremendous achievement for the company and, I’d venture, the tidal sector. And it has only been possible through the determination, vision and ingenuity of a small, but highly determined team that has worked relentlessly to get to this exciting milestone. We see it as a real feather in our cap that we’ve managed to execute a construction and installation programme for a 2MW turbine using only low cost vessels.”

Jason Schofield, managing director of Orkney-based Green Marine, said: “It has been refreshing to work with the Scotrenewables team on their pioneering turbine which we feel has let us play to our strengths and implement a low cost and locally based solution for them.”

Lindsay Roberts, senior policy manager at green industry body Scottish Renewables, said: “This announcement from ScotRenewables is a major leap forward for the company, and one of which they’re rightly proud.

“The installation of the world’s most powerful tidal turbine is another milestone for the sector.”