News this week
This week we are delighted to announce that Atlantis Resources Corporation are the latest developer to lease a test berth at our tidal site. The Atlantis AK-1000 turbine, which has rotors which are 18 metres in diameter – the height of a five-storey building – will be deployed in 2010. (See press release for more details).
EMEC had two Japanese media visits in the last week – firstly TV Tokyo who were preparing a report on CO2 reduction, focusing on Scotland due to our high carbon reduction targets. TV Tokyo are one of the 5 commercial national Japanese channels and specialise in economic, financial and business news. The report will show that Scotland is at the forefront of wave and tidal energy and demonstrate the broad range of technologies that companies here are working on. We also had a visit from Hironao Oguma, a political journalist from Kyodo News. He was examining how Government policy was supporting marine renewables development in the UK – with EMEC being a prime example of Government foresight.
Last night EMEC hosted a table at the Scottish Green Energy Awards in Edinburgh. There was a good Orkney presence at the event, with several Orkney people, organisations and projects up for awards. We are delighted to congratulate Westray Development Trust on winning Best Community Initiative. The charitable company has helped address socio-economic factors in Orkney by investing in renewable energies, a fantastic example of island sustainability. Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS) also won Best Renewable Innovation award and Best New Business for their work in installing the UK’s first smart grid in Orkney in November. They have developed a system which increases the amount of renewable generation which can connect to the electricity grid. The ‘smart grid’ system operates through a central controller which then issues instructions to generators to maximise output, reducing the need for expensive network reinforcement. Thank you to everyone at Scottish Renewables for organising an excellent event, showing Scotland’s achievements across renewable energy.
