Press release: Tocardo granted RO accreditation for 1.4 MW at EMEC

Tocardo Tidal Power is pleased to announce that Ofgem (the Gas and Electricity Regulator in the UK) has granted accreditation under the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme for Tocardo’s 1.4 MW deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).

Tocardo successfully installed and grid-connected their TFS (Temporary Foundation System) at EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal test site in Orkney earlier this year under the FORESEA programme.

With initial works conducted in the Netherlands by international shipyard group DAMEN, the TFS was prepared for deployment at Hatston Pier in Kirkwall, supported by Orkney-based companies Leask Marine, Bryan J Rendall Electrical and Aquatera.

Building on the learning from this deployment, Tocardo is designing a Universal Foundation System (UFS) under the InToTidal project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

The InToTidal project aims is to develop and demonstrate the world’s first turn-key floating tidal power plant solution capable of integrating five tidal turbines. Led by Tocardo, the project includes EMEC, Leask Marine, and French research institute IFREMER.

With the confirmation of RO accreditation from Ofgem, Tocardo is getting ready for large scale roll-out of its generic solution for tidal energy production with future deployments foreseen in Wales and Canada at the FORCE and Petit Passage locations.

Hans van Breugel, CEO of Tocardo Tidal Power:

“We are very pleased the project has been granted. With this accreditation under this renewable support scheme for the EMEC project, a commercial business case has been secured.

“Tocardo’s benchmark is to produce energy at the cost of offshore wind in the near future. To be able to achieve this, the tidal energy sector needs to be enabled to increase the installed volume of equipment.

“In that respect, it is important to see an industrial support scheme suitable for the marine energy sector, to encourage technology companies like Tocardo to build out on an industrial scale in the UK.

“A revenue based support mechanism, decreasing over time, has proved to be best in creating a new industry through market incentivisation, as learned from, as an example, the industry growth of the Danish wind energy sector. Tocardo is ready to become one of the larger inward investment companies in the marine energy sector, with a strong operational and production base in Scotland and Wales.

“The UK is extremely well positioned as a maritime nation to create new jobs from the growing tidal energy industry.”

Neil Kermode, Managing Director of EMEC:

“It is great to welcome Tocardo to the tidal site here in Orkney. We are delighted that once again an overseas company has invested in a project here in the UK and is heavily using the experience and competence of the local supply chain. The capabilities of these companies, built up through the years of work at the test centre, is an attractive asset. It continues to enable projects to be delivered more efficiently and with lower risk. This is direct evidence that the creation of EMEC supports jobs and inward investment in the exciting and innovative field of marine energy.”