Tidal Site Activity

The test site was officially opened by the first minister on the 28th of September 2007.

The first developer to use the site is OpenHydro with their open centred turbine installed in late 2006.  Preliminary testing is underway with their grid connection anticipated soon. In the early hours of Sunday, November 4th 2007 OpenHydro successfully exchanged their turbines out in the Fall of Warness.  On May 26th 2008, OpenHydro successfully generated electricity to the National Grid during their testing procedure.  This is the first time electricity has been produced to the National Grid by a tidal energy device in the UK.  OpenHydro are pleased with the outcome and are moving into the next phase of their testing procedure. Other developers are planning preparation works with deployments of further tidal turbines scheduled for 2008 and 2009.

The SCADA system is now practically complete and will enable developers to access the data from their devices and the site in general by broadband. EMEC are also continuously undertaking ADCP deployments at the site for each developer’s specific locations, as well as a variety of ROV surveys.

The wildlife observations (see research section)  at the test site which have been underway since June 2005 are continuing to provide essential baseline environmental data. Further baseline data gathering projects are planned to commence soon.

Click here to view photographs taken during construction.

In accordance with the requirements of the Energy Act 2004, the developer Tidal Generation Limited has drawn up a decommissioning plan for the prototype tidal turbine currently being installed at EMEC's Fall of Warness test site. This report has now been issued for public consultation for 30 days from 15.08.08. It can be downloaded as a PDF document by clicking here.

Click here to view the Site Opening.