Scotland’s islands have long been places of ingenuity, resilience and quiet leadership – qualities we see every day in Orkney. The recent publication of the second National Islands Plan reaffirms just how central island communities are to Scotland’s future – economically, socially and environmentally.

In this blog, EMEC’s Corporate Affairs Director, Eileen Linklater, shares her reflections on what the new plan means for islands communities and for EMEC’s role within that landscape.

EMEC’s vision – to pioneer the transition to a clean energy future – aligns closely with the ambitions set out in the National Islands Plan. Being based in Orkney, we recognise that EMEC’s work is just one part of a much wider collective effort across the islands.

For me, EMEC’s key role is listening, learning and contributing where we can, working alongside communities, businesses and partners who are all helping shape a fairer, more resilient energy future across Scotland’s islands and beyond.

Islands at the forefront of the energy transition

The National Islands Plan acknowledges that island communities are on the front line of climate change, while also being uniquely placed to lead the transition to cleaner, fairer energy systems. One of the plan’s strategic objectives sets out a clear commitment to address this dual challenge and opportunity:

“To accelerate the transition to net zero on islands by supporting renewable and nature-based solutions, ensuring local ownership and securing fair returns for island communities while building long-term resilience.”

Across our islands, there is a long-standing tradition of learning by doing: testing ideas at small scale, proving what works, then sharing that learning widely. Demonstration projects on islands aren’t just pilots; they are opportunities to build place-based understanding, reduce risks and ensure innovations are genuinely fit for purpose before wider adoption.

From my experience with island organisations and communities, it’s clear that this practical, hands‑on approach is one of the islands’ greatest strengths. I believe islanders have a unique understanding of sustainability and the importance of stewardship of resources. Rather than being insular (as might be expected of place ‘on the edge’) I believe Orkney to be outward and forward-looking, particularly where there are opportunities to innovate.

This is particularly true when it comes to recognising the power and value of the sea: marine renewable energy is just the latest in long line of industries which have brought opportunity to Orkney via the ocean.

EMEC is fortunate to contribute to this landscape. As the world’s leading test laboratory for marine energy, we’ve hosted 35 marine energy devices from 11 countries in Orkney’s powerful seas. The knowledge, skills and supply chain capability developed here are directly useful to island communities, but they also inform global best practice.

I’ve seen Green Marine and Leask Marine evolve their local fishing and diving operations into globally significant vessel operators offering marine services for offshore renewables, and Aquatera provide environmental consultancy for clients in more than 30 countries from their base in Stromness.

This outward impact is only possible because the islands provide a rich, collaborative environment for experimentation and learning.

Living and working in Orkney, I’m regularly reminded that innovation thrives when it is grounded in place and informed by strong communities. After years of battling grid constraints, Orkney Islands Council’s leadership in championing the renewables sector has been pivotal in progressing our new Orkney interconnector and enabling projects such as the Quanterness Windfarm, demonstrating how local action can shape a future facing, community powered energy system.

A multimillion-pound investment accelerating tidal energy R&D

The recent announcement of EMEC’s multimillion pound infrastructure expansion represents another opportunity to strengthen Scotland’s capability in tidal energy. The upgrades will enhance grid connections, modernise test facilities and expand our ability to integrate storage and power management systems – crucial steps in supporting developers as they move from single prototypes to early multi-device arrays.

This investment aligns strongly with National Islands Plan priorities, supporting:

• green infrastructure as a foundation for stronger island economies;
• growth in net zero industries;
• energy security for remote and island communities;
• local job creation and opportunities that attract and retain people; and
• the use of islands as innovation testbeds, benefiting the whole of Scotland

Importantly, this kind of innovation support is not a subsidy – it is an investment in future resilience, in new markets and in long-term job creation.

By building capacity now, Scotland’s islands can be at the epicentre of emerging global sectors such as wave and tidal energy, ensuring that economic, environmental and community benefits stay local. Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine, currently operating at EMEC’s Fall of Warness demonstration site, offers a clear example of this in action: the Orkney‑based developer reports more than 80% UK supply‑chain content during development and deployment.

Deepwater wind, alternative energy offtakes and whole-system innovation

Across the islands, many organisations, innovators and community groups are trialling solutions to cut emissions, lower energy costs and improve energy reliability. EMEC is an important contributor to this wider ecosystem.

Our recent activities include:

• advancing designs for a deepwater and floating wind test facility (DeepWind), supported through the Crown Estate’s Supply Chain Accelerator;
• expanding demonstrations of alternative offtakes such as hydrogen and e-fuels for aviation, ferries and heat; and
• leading the Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ) – a collaborative partnership helping Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides shape community-led pathways to decarbonisation.

All these efforts stem from the same principle: island-led innovation.

Islands operate as a microcosm of Scotland’s wider energy system, offering a contained environment in which to develop and demonstrate new approaches to decarbonisation and resilience. However, islands also face some of Scotland’s most acute energy challenges – from higher fuel poverty and grid constraints to high reliance on imported fuels. As such, they are ideal places to explore practical, replicable low carbon solutions.

Lessons learned here can then be scaled up responsibly, in ways that reflect the diverse needs of other regions.

Creating local benefit with national impact

An independent economic impact assessment found that in its first 20 years EMEC has:

• added £370 million GVA to the UK economy, including £263 million to Scotland and £130 million in Orkney;
• supported 540 full-time equivalent jobs, 224 of them in Orkney; and
• spent over half of its expenditure locally between 2005–2024.

These figures underline the value of investing in innovation, showing that when it is rooted in local places, the investment has a far deeper impact on the communities that host it.

Further infrastructure investment will build on this – supporting local suppliers, enabling new skills and green jobs, and strengthening the islands’ role in Scotland’s transition to net zero.

A shared vision for thriving islands

The National Islands Plan sets out an ambitious but achievable vision: thriving, resilient communities with strong local economies, fair access to clean energy, and opportunities for people to live, work and prosper on the islands.

We believe that renewable energy innovation, undertaken carefully, collaboratively and with communities at the centre, has a vital role to play in delivering that vision. EMEC is proud to support this journey, but equally aware that we are one part of a much larger island-led movement.

As Scotland accelerates towards decarbonisation, the islands – guided by community empowerment and decades of practical innovation – are not simply adapting to change; they are shaping it.

Islanders are demonstrating what a resilient, fair and low carbon future can look like. And EMEC remains committed to learning and contributing wherever we can.

Eileen Linklater
Corporate Affairs Director

If you have an idea for islands innovation you’d like to discuss, please get in touch:

• Email: info@emec.org.uk

Coming soon:

EMEC has been hosting Edinburgh University PhD researcher, Lara Santos Ayllon, whose research explores the justice dimensions of emerging energy technologies in the Orkney context. Lara will soon be sharing a series of blog posts highlighting her findings and recommendations.

Last month, EMEC were invited to join the MeyGen and Proteus Marine Renewables teams to observe a series of offshore operations in the Pentland Firth. The campaign involved cable works, turbine recovery and re-installation, maintenance and upgrades, providing a valuable opportunity to see a tidal energy array in action and experience firsthand how offshore activities are delivered at sites beyond EMEC.

MeyGen has been operating a 6 MW tidal energy array in the Pentland Firth since 2018, with earlier iterations of the tidal turbines tested at EMEC’s Fall of Warness demonstration site in Orkney. This visit builds on our long‑standing collaboration including a reciprocal visit to the Fall of Warness last year, alongside recent joint industry-wide efforts to address consenting challenges and accelerate progress through the Marine Energy Taskforce.

On board from EMEC were Senior Technical Project Manager, Heather Turnbull, and Marine Operations Specialist, Florence Ungaro. In this blog, Heather shares an inside look at the offshore operations, reflecting on industry progress, EMEC’s legacy in tidal innovation, and the vital role collaboration and knowledge exchange play in driving the commercialisation of tidal energy. This comes at a pivotal time as EMEC prepares for expansion of our own tidal energy facilities to support the sector’s transition to multi-device arrays.

In December, I had the opportunity to join offshore operations at the MeyGen site in the Pentland Firth, an experience that offered a valuable window into how far the tidal energy sector has come and where it is heading next, and, as a bonus, the trip even treated us to a glimpse of the northern lights dancing over the Pentland Firth.

For EMEC, supporting technology development is part of our DNA. Over the past 20 years we’ve seen early concepts mature into grid‑connected turbines, subsea systems, operational procedures and digital tools that are now shaping the first tidal energy arrays. Observing the MeyGen and Proteus teams in action provided a tangible reminder of that journey.

A front‑row view of industry maturity

Across several days offshore, we were able to observe a packed programme of activity including subsea cable operations, turbine recovery, maintenance and upgrading works, and preparations for redeployment. These hands‑on operations were carried out in one of the world’s most energetic tidal sites – safely, efficiently and without leaving site. The technical capability and operational professionalism reflects how far the sector has advanced. Subsea turbine servicing is becoming routine offshore practice, a key step to lowering costs and de-risking tidal energy as it moves toward larger-scale commercial deployment.

A strong health and safety culture was evident throughout the campaign. From hazard identification and risk assessment to toolbox talks and procedural briefings, communication was clear, risk ownership was visible and the pace never compromised safety. The scale and complexity of the operations highlighted the benefits of having colleagues and contractors with experience drawn from diverse and more mature offshore industries. It was encouraging to see that the level of preparation and adaptability on display has become standard practice in tidal energy operations, shaped by years of experience and shared practice across the sector.

Innovation grounded in real‑world lessons

Another encouraging aspect of the visit was seeing the practical application of innovations that are already influencing the next generation of tidal technologies. For example:

• data from environmental monitoring platforms being used to strengthen evidence for seal‑collision avoidance;
• laser‑guided systems supporting rapid fastening of subsea frames; and
• the use of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) for fault detection and localisation – an approach we are also exploring for use at EMEC.

These developments build on early demonstration work carried out at EMEC where previous iterations of both the Andritz Hydro Hammerfest and Proteus (then known as ‘Atlantis’) turbines were tested. Seeing the way those early lessons have shaped current systems, and are helping pave the way for scalable, commercial arrays, was grounding and inspiring.

Collaboration that strengthens the entire sector

A hugely valuable aspect of the visit for me was the space it created for open discussion. Across the tidal sector, partners are continually balancing the protection of intellectual property with the understanding that collaboration is essential to move the whole sector closer to delivering bankable, large‑scale tidal energy projects. This visit provided another welcome opportunity to exchange insights and strengthen that shared understanding.

During our time offshore, we discussed what the sector needs as it moves toward larger‑scale tidal arrays. For a 200 MW‑plus future to become reality, the pool of experienced personnel, the body of proven operating procedures and the availability of reliable subsea methodologies must continue to grow.

Incremental progress = long-term impact

Working at an innovation centre we can get absorbed in the challenges of day‑to‑day problem solving. Seeing how technologies that first entered the water at EMEC have evolved into the robust machines operating today was a powerful reminder of the long‑term value of a test site and the impact of the work we do.

It was equally motivating to see how new tools, data systems and operational methods are emerging from real‑world experience in the water, and how EMEC can continue supporting that evolution through testing, shared learning and collaborative innovation.

Since operations began, MeyGen has generated more than 84 GWh of electricity (as at Nov 2025, see latest generation figures here), including a record‑breaking month in 2025 when the AR1500 turbine delivered 372 MWh. Achievements like these signal what is possible when strong engineering, consistent operational learning and shared ambition come together.

Looking ahead

As the sector moves from R&D towards early commercialisation, the collaborative spirit demonstrated during this visit will be fundamental. To help accelerate the sector’s progression from individual device to array deployments, EMEC is actively pursuing the expansion of its Fall of Warness tidal test site to support this transition. EMEC looks forward to continuing to work with partners across the industry including tidal developers, supply chain companies, academia and public‑sector collaborators to advance the knowledge base, tackle shared challenges and build the foundations for a thriving tidal energy sector.

A huge thank‑you again to the MeyGen and Proteus teams for welcoming us onboard and for their openness throughout. The visit was an energising end to the year and a powerful reminder of the collective progress the sector is making and the promise that lies ahead.

Heather Turnbull
Senior Technical Project Manager
EMEC

2025 has been a year of transformation and renewed ambition at EMEC. In March, I was honoured to step into the role of Managing Director after nearly two decades with the organisation. In my time at EMEC I have had the pleasure of working with most of the wave and tidal developers in the sector and I am really excited about the deployment opportunities we are building with industry in the years ahead.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Neil Kermode for his leadership at EMEC. Neil’s dedication and vision have been instrumental in shaping our journey and I am delighted that he continues to contribute his vast knowledge to us in his Associate role. Celebrating his 20th anniversary with EMEC in November, it was inspiring to reflect on his achievements and the sector’s progress over his two decades of service.

With our new look leadership team – Mark Hamilton joining myself, Eileen Linklater and Donna Ritch – we’re enthusiastic about the future. Together, we’re charting our next phase of growth to ensure EMEC remains well positioned to meet the evolving needs of the sectors we work in.

Central to our plans has been the formation of an Innovation Team within EMEC, bringing together our business development and technical delivery expertise. This integrated approach will deepen our research, development and innovation activities and strengthen our ability to co-create solutions with partners.

We are pushing on with the expansion of EMEC’s wave and tidal energy demonstration sites to accelerate from prototype demonstrations to building out arrays. This is a key step as the sector moves into a commercial phase.

We are also ramping up efforts to develop infrastructure to support the burgeoning floating wind sector and opportunities around alternative offtake for renewables. This is all coordinated through our Strategic Projects Team who are working closely with the Operations Team to deliver significant upgrades in our test and demonstration capabilities.

Throughout this review, you’ll find examples of how EMEC and our partners continue to deliver pioneering projects in ocean energy, hydrogen, offshore wind, integrated energy systems and island decarbonisation, all contributing to our ambition for a clean energy future.

I am proud of what we have achieved together this year and excited for the opportunities that lie ahead. Thank you to our dedicated team, partners and supporters for your continued commitment to EMEC’s mission.

As always, if you have an idea for a new project, please get in touch.

Matthew Finn
Managing Director

Sign up to our newsletter to stay updated on EMEC updates throughout the year.

Ocean energy

With over 25 GW of wave energy capacity and 11 GW of tidal stream potential, the UK is well-positioned to lead the global transition to marine renewables. Current projects are already demonstrating significant power outputs (e.g. MeyGen has generated over 84 GWh to date) and over 80% UK supply chain content (e.g. Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine), reinforcing the sector’s ability to deliver environmental and economic benefits at scale.

The launch of the Marine Energy Taskforce in June renewed strategic focus for the sector. Backed by Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP, the Taskforce unites government, industry and innovators in a critical 12-month initiative to unlock the UK’s marine energy potential. Collaborating closely with the Energy Minister and other senior industry representatives, Neil Kermode is leading a working group on site development, with concurrent groups exploring finance, innovation and supply chain growth.

Another sector-wide endeavour is aiming to resolve consenting challenges, with a milestone report published in May. ‘Managing the Consenting Risk of Harbour Seal Collision in the Scottish Tidal Energy Industry’ sets out evidence‑led recommendations to underpin robust consenting to enable the growth of tidal stream energy in Scotland while addressing environmental concerns, particularly the potential impact on harbour seals.

Wave energy

We’re working with several developers gearing up to deploy wave energy projects in Orkney in the coming years.

OceanEnergy, through the EU-funded WEDUSEA project, is advancing the development of its 1 MW OE35 floating wave energy converter. It’s commencing an ambitious build programme through winter 2025/26 in preparation for deployment at our Billia Croo wave test site.

Another company preparing for a Billia Croo demonstration is CorPower Ocean. It aims to deliver the UK’s largest wave energy project, a 5 MW array featuring 14 wave energy converters, scheduled for deployment in 2029. CorPower will also lead the recently announced €30 million POWER-Farm EU Project, addressing the competitiveness and bankability of wave farms by validating technology in conditions required for large-scale deployment in UK waters.

We also continue to work closely with Mocean Energy on its EuropeWave project, which progressed through final tank tests earlier in the year. And finally, thanks to a successful RISEnergy application, we’ll soon be welcoming a new wave energy developer to our Scapa Flow wave test site… more on that in the New Year.

Tidal energy

It’s been a busy year at EMEC’s Fall of Warness test site, with significant project activity underway as well as preparations for future tidal energy arrays.

Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine has been operating since 2021 and over the summer, EMEC carried out a series of drifting acoustic surveys to measure the underwater soundscape around the device. We completed 45 drifts in total, with analysis of the results ongoing. These surveys, part of the EU-funded FORWARD2030 project, help developers and regulators build a clearer understanding of how marine energy technologies interact with their surroundings, ensuring the sustainable development of this emerging sector.

Highlights for Orbital through the year include securing £7 million investment to advance its international projects and being awarded licences to develop a tidal energy project in Canada.

Preparations at the Fall of Warness are underway for future tidal arrays from Orbital and Nova Innovation through the EURO-TIDES and SEASTAR projects. We’re making good progress on increasing the grid capacity at the site with connection agreements received, and just this week we achieved a major milestone in submitting our Section 36 application to increase consented capacity from 10 MW to 50 MW.

Beyond that, final site works following the decommissioning of OpenHydro’s infrastructure were completed, including capping the seabed cable with a high-voltage connector to ready it for use by future developers.

Meanwhile Magallanes Renovables’ ATIR device — which demonstrated at the Fall of Warness between 2019 to 2023 — has been towed back to Vigo, Spain, as the company focuses its attention on its next device, the ATIR 2.0.

Across the other side of the Pentland Firth from Orkney, our team joined recent offshore operations at the MeyGen tidal array to observe subsea cable works, turbine maintenance and upgrades, and redeployments. It was a valuable opportunity for knowledge sharing and to see the progress made since earlier iterations of the turbines were demonstrated at EMEC. Since operations began, MeyGen has generated over 84 GWh of electricity and in March this year the site had a record-breaking month with its AR1500 tidal turbine delivering its highest-ever monthly output of 372 MWh.

Subsea components and digital technologies

In November, we kicked off an ambitious new initiative to advance subsea components and digital technologies for ocean energy. Coordinated by the EMEC, the €4 million EU-funded FOREST (Future Ocean Renewable Energy System Technologies) project brings together eight partners from the UK, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

FOREST will deliver three major innovations, spanning cables, connector systems and measurement tools, all rigorously tested at EMEC’s test sites. By developing and testing next-generation subsea technologies crucial for ocean energy array deployments, the project aims to boost array performance, drive down costs and accelerate market readiness.

Health and safety focus

As a test and demonstration site for innovative technologies involving offshore operations and high-voltage systems, having a strong culture of health and safety is vital. We endeavour to mitigate risk where possible, but we also prepare for the unexpected.

We’ve been working with Inverroy Crisis Management Ltd for several years to stress-test and continually improve our incident response processes. This year, we stepped this up by carrying out tabletop exercises with the emergency services to strengthen inter-agency collaboration.

The event brought together representatives from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, HM Coastguard, Police Scotland, NHS Scotland, Orkney Islands Council, Orkney’s Local Emergency Coordination Group (OLECG) as well as EMEC, Orbital Marine Power Ltd and Green Marine (UK) Ltd, exploring how each organisation would respond, increasing mutual understanding and identifying opportunities to coordinate effectively.

International collaboration

Our latest International WaTERS workshop took place prior to the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC) in Madeira. This year we co-hosted the event with Ocean Energy Systems (OES), bringing together 29 delegates from 10 countries and 18 test sites and organisations. Huge thanks to OES for supporting the event, creating a valuable forum to share progress, explore barriers, offer peer-to-peer advice and identify opportunities for joint R&D.

EMEC has also been commissioned by OES-IEA to produce a report consolidating learnings from all International WaTERS workshops held since 2013. This will be published next year.

Our international partnerships continue to help shape the future of ocean energy on a global scale. This year, we supported the technology selection and qualification process for the American Tidal Energy Project (ATEP) in Alaska, USA, delivering a technology assessment report and annual energy production calculations. We’ve also been working closely with partners at Ocean University China and Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (China), PacWave (Oregon, USA), Bourne Tidal Energy (Massachusetts, USA) and Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (Florida, USA) to support the development of test and demonstration facilities worldwide.

Driving innovation at a European scale, EMEC continues to work closely with our partners in the EU-funded Marinerg-i programme, a research infrastructure initiative aiming to establish an independent legal entity to coordinate testing facilities and services across wave, tidal, wind, solar and hybrid energy technologies. EMEC has delivered market analysis on current and future demand, supported cost analysis and business planning, and is developing common standards and a quality control implementation plan.

Integrating ocean energy into a clean energy system

EMEC is driving innovation in the integration of renewables with complementary energy vectors and alternative offtake industries. Our goal is to accelerate the commercialisation of offshore energy and demonstrate new solutions for decarbonising power, heat and transport.

Hydrogen and battery trials

2025 has been a milestone year with the completion of two pioneering hydrogen demonstration projects that reflect years of dedicated work and are providing invaluable lessons to guide future projects.

In October, we completed a trial of a hydrogen-powered combined heat and power (CHP) unit at Kirkwall Airport, marking the first time hydrogen has been used to meet both heat and power demands at a UK commercial airport. Manufactured by 2G, the system was integrated with the airport’s existing heating network to heat the main terminal building, and supply power across the site.

One month later, we delivered a world-first three-in-one demonstration at our onshore R&D site in Eday, integrating Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine, vanadium flow batteries from Invinity Energy Systems, and an ITM Power 670 kW electrolyser. This demonstration proved how multi-vector systems can smooth the cyclical nature of tidal generation and unlock new offtake opportunities.

This demonstration follows the delivery of a detailed modelling study exploring how to optimise the integration of tidal energy and battery storage with alternative offtake routes, in this case hydrogen production, to overcome barriers to commercial scale tidal energy deployments.

With some R&D projects coming to an end, we’re readying our sites for the next wave of innovation demonstrations – whether that’s hydrogen, synthetic fuels, energy storage or direct air capture. If you have ideas for new projects or are interested in giving some of our retired hydrogen equipment a new home, get in touch – commercial@emec.org.uk.

Laying the groundwork for future demonstrations

EMEC’s hydrogen demonstration projects have provided valuable insights into production, storage, transport and end-use applications. We’ve learned about the technical challenges of integrating electrolysers with variable renewables, the hidden costs and regulatory hurdles in hydrogen logistics, and the limitations of using hydrogen directly as a fuel for power or heat.

We’ve been actively sharing this hands-on hydrogen experience and real-world lessons with stakeholders around the world, through grant-funded projects such as H2Heat in Gran Canaria and via bespoke knowledge exchange workshops for commercial clients.

Building on this experience, we see hydrogen’s greatest potential as a building block for liquid e-fuels. These fuels offer a practical pathway to decarbonise hard-to-electrify sectors like aviation and maritime where direct electrification is impractical. Synthesised from renewable hydrogen and captured carbon, these fuels can act as drop-in replacements for traditional fossil fuels, requiring little or no modification to existing engines and infrastructure and, when burned, release net-zero carbon emissions. This approach leverages hydrogen’s versatility while addressing storage, transport and energy density challenges, making it a scalable and impactful solution for decarbonisation.

To accelerate innovation in this area, EMEC has delivered a Scottish Government funded pre-FEED study assessing how our onshore facilities in Eday could host synthetic fuel R&D. The study considered site requirements, hazard management, consents, skills and resource needs. We’re keen to pursue this opportunity and are exploring funding options to progress towards a FEED study.

In the meantime, we’re involved in two new e-fuels initiatives under the UK Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition:

• Marine future fuels from waste: a feasibility study in collaboration with technology developer Hydrogen Refinery looking at converting household refuse into green hydrogen and synthetic fuels. EMEC will deliver a techno-economic assessment of the technology and explore the feasibility of deploying in Orkney.
• Shoreside methanol production: working with Transformational Energy, we are preparing for a demonstration of a modular e-methanol production unit at our Billia Croo site in Stromness. With support from Cooke Aquaculture, the project will look at the commercial case and applicability of e-methanol in the aquaculture sector.

We’ve also completed two feasibility studies with partners, delivering techno-economic assessments on technologies that support alternative offtake opportunities like synthetic fuel R&D.

• Seawater electrolysis for synthetic fuels: EMEC led a technical and commercial feasibility assessment, exploring the viability of producing carbon dioxide and hydrogen from seawater using sHYp’s membraneless electrolyser technology. Check out the HyBRINE project for an overview of the findings. This approach could enable synthetic fuel production in remote coastal communities where renewable energy is abundant but often curtailed. The study confirmed strong potential for seawater electrolysis and outlined a roadmap for a phased demonstrator project.
• E-fuels for maritime decarbonisation: We worked closely with Belfast-based CATAGEN to explore the market potential of its ‘ClimaHTech’ e-fuel production technology for the maritime sector. The study focused on e-diesel and biodiesel for marine vessels and port-side equipment, produced using hydrogen and carbon dioxide via ClimaHtech, electrolysis and direct air capture technologies. Several sites in Orkney and Belfast were identified for possible demonstrations, with EMEC providing site identification and guidance on compliance and regulation. The study confirmed that synthetic diesel production is technically viable, with costs expected to fall as technology matures.

Offshore wind R&D

We continue to champion the case for a national floating wind test facility in the UK and feel momentum building. Earlier this year, EMEC signed an MOU with FLOWRA (The Floating Offshore Wind Power Technology Research Association of Japan) marking the start of a collaboration to explore opportunities for establishing and managing an offshore test and demonstration site for floating wind.

Industry engagement shows strong demand for such a resource, and we’re finding conversations are expanding beyond just floating wind to address broader deepwater requirements for the offshore wind sector. Building on this, The Crown Estate announced last week that EMEC has been successful in its Supply Chain Accelerator programme. This funding will help us take important steps toward realising our vision for a deep-water test site for offshore wind demonstrations, and we look forward to sharing more details on the project in the new year.

We were also delighted to welcome Crown Estate Scotland as a sponsor for our Offshore Wind Research and Innovation (R&I) Programme this year. Its backing enhances the programme’s capacity to de-risk offshore wind development while embedding economic value within Scottish communities.

Our first innovation call in the R&I Programme, delivered in collaboration with sponsor West of Orkney Windfarm, attracted 29 applications from supply chain companies pitching creative solutions for understanding metocean conditions and design for short weather window installations. Three companies — TRIOS Renewables, Seaview Sensing and Next Ocean — were awarded funding and have been progressing well, with EMEC hosting quarterly meetings to monitor progress and provide technical support. Final project presentations are scheduled for early next year.

In parallel, a related initiative offering earlier stage funding – Scottish Enterprise’s CAN DO Offshore Wind Innovation Feasibility Challenge Call – closes for applications on 9 January 2026. Grant support is available to Scottish companies to conduct detailed design, technical and/or commercial feasibility projects.

Islands decarbonisation

The Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ), a pan-island project led by EMEC and funded by the UK and Scottish Governments as part of the Islands Growth Deal, is laying foundations for the transition to a low-carbon future and helping island communities take practical steps toward decarbonisation.

Some of the highlights from this year include:

• Building a clear picture of island emissions: Setting a clear baseline provides a robust foundation for targeted decarbonisation strategies. ICNZ has published an interactive dashboard showing greenhouse gas emission baselines for Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides. Where possible, island-specific data is used, revealing per-capita emissions significantly higher than UK averages driven largely by transport, energy and land use.
• Transforming agriculture for a greener future: With agriculture the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Orkney, we’ve launched four demonstration projects to reduce emissions, improve efficiency and strengthen farming resilience. These include dairy robotics trials, cover crops, reducing methane emissions from cattle and lowering the use of nitrogen fertilisers.
• Introducing the local household carbon calculator: Our new Household Carbon Calculator aims to help island communities assess and reduce their carbon footprint. It is tailored for Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, using local emission factors and reflecting unique challenges of remote areas such as higher reliance on fossil fuels. Tailored recommendations will be added next year to support practical action.

The team has also supported various related decarbonisation projects, tackling different aspects of the energy transition:

• A local energy demand and generation study for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) combined technical modelling with local insights to close knowledge gaps and inform network and decarbonisation strategies.
• Rural Energy Hubs project trials spanning electric bus routes in Shetland, electric refuse collection in Orkney and the development of The Brae Rural Energy Hub in Shetland offering co-working spaces, EV charging, e-bike hire and energy advice.
• An AI platform developed through the Isle AI project to identify and address fuel poverty in rural island communities has been piloted in Orkney and scaled for use in Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.
• The EU-funded ISLANDER project piloted an integrated approach to renewable generation, storage and digital energy management on the German island of Borkum. Building on this, EMEC produced detailed studies for Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides, mapping energy demand, generation and infrastructure and considering how the solutions trialled in Borkum could be applied locally. The studies underscore the need to tailor approaches to local policy, regulatory, geographical, and behavioural factors and will serve as a key resource for ICNZ in guiding energy transition efforts.

Advancing sustainable aviation

This year marked the completion of phase two of the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) project, driving progress toward a UK centre of excellence for low-carbon aviation in the Highlands and Islands. Key achievements included regulatory engagement with the CAA, feasibility studies on emerging technologies and flight trials of Windracers’ ULTRA autonomous cargo aircraft which operated scheduled routes over nine weeks between Eday, Westray and North Ronaldsay.

EMEC worked with Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and HIAL to deliver the first comprehensive assessment of hydrogen refuelling procedures at operational airports. The report sets out practical steps for introducing hydrogen as an aviation fuel and provides recommendations to inform future CAA guidance. Looking ahead, the SATE consortium has secured additional funding through the UK Government’s Regional Future Flight Demonstrator programme. This next phase will deliver a regional sustainable aviation strategy for the Highlands and Islands, mapping how innovative technologies could support lifeline services, accelerate net-zero ambitions and boost economic development. Feeding into this, EMEC will lead a study of Orkney’s aviation infrastructure to identify gaps and opportunities for integrating sustainable aviation into existing assets.

Maritime innovation

The Electric Orkney project reached a major milestone with the arrival of the Belfast-built Artemis EF-12 Workboat XL. This electric-powered hydrofoil vessel is undergoing sea trials to assess performance in Orkney before entering a trial service connecting Kirkwall with Shapinsay, Egilsay, Wyre and Rousay. The project aims to demonstrate the benefits of zero-emission vessels for inter-island routes, supporting decarbonisation and improving connectivity.

We continued working with SSEN on the second phase of SeaChange, a project focused on decarbonising the UK’s maritime sector by developing tools and models that enable ports and electricity network operators to plan for increased, cleaner energy demand in a coordinated and cost-effective way. The project’s main outputs — the Navigating Energy Transitions (NET) tool and the Living Port model — help ports map viable decarbonisation pathways, forecast future electricity needs and support strategic investment in resilient, low-carbon infrastructure. EMEC supported with local data collection and supply chain engagement.

Meanwhile, the CoastalCoRRE project kicked off, led by Urban Foresight and funded by Innovate UK via the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. This feasibility study is exploring modular floating e-boat charging hubs to overcome the physical, electrical and environmental constraints of remote coastal locations. EMEC is supporting market engagement and guiding the project’s approach to marine licensing and assessment of potential deployment sites.

Finally, the launch of the International Blue Economy Robotarium at All-Energy established Orkney as a hub for robotics innovation in the blue economy, bringing together partners including EMEC, Heriot-Watt University Orkney, Aquatera, Green Marine, Leask Marine and The National Robotarium to accelerate the development of cutting-edge marine robotic technologies.

Engagement and impact

Industry engagement

Connecting with colleagues in industry, academia and government is key to building partnerships for innovation projects and sharing knowledge to drive progress. Highlights this year include exhibiting alongside the Orkney supply chain at All-Energy in Glasgow, and engaging with colleagues at Ocean Energy Europe (Brussels), Floating Offshore Wind (Aberdeen) and Innovation Zero (London) to name a few.

A key highlight in the calendar was EWTEC in Madeira, and not just for the sun. We hosted two side events to deepen our academic engagement: the International WaTERS Workshop (mentioned above); and a dedication session for academics and universities to explore opportunities around EMEC’s new status as an Independent Research Organisation (IRO). These discussions highlighted strong support for EMEC’s role in bridging research, tank testing and offshore demonstration with clear demand for real-world data.

Community connections

Closer to home, we’ve loved getting involved in the many vibrant community events in Orkney. The buzz around the Orkney 2025 Island Games was electric, and we were delighted to sponsor Orkney’s triathlon and swimming teams. Many of our colleagues volunteered throughout the week to help make the Games a success, while athletes, visitors and even some VIP guests tested their pedal power on our new ICNZ energy bikes, including none other than Lorraine Kelly!

Our Renewable Revolution Open Day during Stromness Shopping Week has become a staple of the programme, attracting over 100 bairns (and some adults) to explore renewable energy and sustainability with us and local businesses. At the Orkney International Science Festival, we enjoyed the lively discussions at our ‘Tech on the Tarmac’ showcase, pedal-powered fun at the Family Day — engaging with young people on green career paths — and thought-provoking presentations at Orkney’s first Climate COP.

We’re proud to support local events and clubs, from sponsoring the Orkney Amateur Swimming Club Gala, to sandcastle and art competitions in Eday, and the Orkney Folk Festival where many of our team volunteered. And of course, we couldn’t miss contributing to the magnificent creel Christmas tree in support of the Stromness Lifeboat.

In the spotlight

The enthusiasm for renewables in Orkney continues to grow, and we were thrilled to visit Powered by People, a new exhibition at Stromness Museum, celebrating the county’s rich and evolving renewable energy heritage. The exhibition shines a light on Orkney’s pioneering role in clean energy innovation and the human stories behind this journey, sparking conversations about fairness, innovation and community impact. Well worth a visit if you get the chance.

Meanwhile, our renewables story continues to make waves globally. Check out:

• Matthew Finn’s interview in Enlit, where he shares his vision for Orkney leading the way in creating a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.
• An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet, an inspiring series featuring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (of Games of Thrones fame) as he searches the globe for people driving humanity toward a more sustainable future. The Real Cost of Our Energy Demand episode offers a fascinating look at Orbital Marine Power’s O2 project at the Fall of Warness.

Finally, EMEC’s economic impact has been recognised in a case study by The Scottish Government Just Transition Commission. An online map plots projects and initiatives across Scotland that are making positive contributions across a range of just transition challenges.

Wishing our community, clients, project partners, suppliers, funders and supporters from around the world a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2026!

EMEC has delivered a detailed modelling study exploring how to optimise the integration of tidal energy and battery storage with alternative offtake routes (e.g. hydrogen production) to overcome barriers to commercial scale tidal energy deployments.

The study has been published as part of the FORWARD2030 project, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. FORWARD2030 aims to deliver a series of high-impact cost reductions to achieve large-scale tidal energy array deployment by 2030.

Challenge and opportunity

Many of the UK’s most promising tidal stream sites are in remote coastal areas with limited and frequently disrupted grid connections. These grid limitations pose a barrier to meeting national and international deployment targets.

The introduction of alternative offtake routes is a promising opportunity where local businesses can take advantage of the local generation of green electricity at advantageous pricing as part of a behind-the-meter power purchase agreement . This not only reduces reliance on expensive retail electricity or diesel generators but also opens the door to attracting new industries to these regions.

The predictability of tidal stream energy makes it a strong candidate for alternative offtake applications. While tidal generation varies throughout the day, its cyclical nature means this variability can be accurately forecast.

When coupled with battery storage to smooth generation, continuous power can be fed to the grid or to an offtake.

However there has been limited practical analysis of how such integrated systems would operate in real-world conditions.

Modelling with real-world data

EMEC developed a comprehensive model to explore how tidal energy could be optimally used to power local offtake, using its vanadium flow batteries and hydrogen electrolyser as a case study.

The model uses EMEC’s resource data collected at its tidal energy test site in Orkney, alongside site acceptance data from its adjacent onshore R&D facilities where integration of tidal energy converters, battery storage and hydrogen are gearing up to be trialled.

This real-world data was used to undertake a detailed analysis to understand what tidal generation will look like for a typical annual cycle, how batteries may be used to ensure consistency of supply and how operation of a partially islanded system can maximise a limited grid connection.

The findings from the model were then qualitatively assessed to understand how they may be extended to larger tidal farms and how these may be integrated with wind farms. This was then extended to investigate the potential for grid balancing services and other potential offtake industries such as synthetic fuel production.

Key findings

The modelling revealed that tidal energy technologies, when combined with appropriately-sized energy storage systems, can deliver stable, near-continuous behind-the-meter power to industrial offtakes.

An example of model energy outputs for one day with symmetric 300 kW vanadium flow battery charge and discharge rate. The blue line shows near-continuous hydrogen production.

Achieving this stability depends on several critical factors:

• The offtake must have a high ‘turndown rate’, allowing it to remain operational during neap tides when generation will be lower.
• The tidal resource must be accurately modelled to inform system design and scheduling.
• The battery must be correctly sized to match both the tidal resource and the offtake’s operational profile.
• The predictability of tidal cycles should be leveraged to schedule plant downtime, thereby maximising the system’s capacity factor.

From the modelling, the team identified several key takeaways:

• Optimal hydrogen production can be maintained when the above critical factors are met (with the exception of the weakest neap tides).
• Lower operations and maintenance costs can be achieved by reducing the quantity of start-up cycles and aligning maintenance with these predictable weak neap tides.
• Ideal windows for planned maintenance for servicing the electrolyser, batteries and tidal energy converters occur approximately every six months during periods of lowest tidal generation.
• Tailored scheduling to meet the need of specific offtake industries can be achieved when accounting for predictable seasonal variation in tidal generation (e.g. planning maintenance during neap tides or timing energy-intensive processes with spring tides).
• Aligning plant operations with tidal cycles can maintain high electrolyser efficiency and capacity factor, avoid curtailment by exporting excess energy during spring tides, schedule maintenance during neap tides when generation is lowest and respond flexibly to load fluctuations and grid balancing needs.
• Early detailed modelling, based on local tidal resource data and equipment specifications, is essential to determine the optimal configuration and economic operating profile for each individual system and offtake industry.
• Some offtake opportunities may be better suited to respond to excess power from the system than others. For example, direct air capture systems are passive absorbent for collection of CO2. They only require electricity to release the CO2, which can be performed flexibly in response to available energy surplus.

Modelled electrolyser power for one year showing vanadium flow battery optimum scheme. The spikes show the regularity of when there is not enough energy to produce hydrogen and thus ideal windows for planned maintenance.

Industrial offtake: a pathway to commercialisation

Behind-the-meter systems offer a compelling route to commercialising tidal energy and EMEC is due to be the first site in the UK to go live under this arrangement under the CfD scheme .

By supplying power directly to local industries, these systems can:

• enable higher generation than constrained grid connections allow;
• reduce curtailment and improve energy utilisation;
• support new markets such as hydrogen or synthetic fuel production; and
• provide ancillary services to the grid, including balancing and flexibility.

Next steps

The next step for EMEC is to put the model into practice, with the team gearing up for a live demonstration integrating tidal energy, battery storage and hydrogen production at its R&D test site in Eday, Orkney.

Ongoing collaboration with industry partners will be key as EMEC explores new offtake markets and opportunities for alternative offtake demonstrations, supporting grid balancing and the commercialisation of tidal energy at scale.

Report download:

‘Recommendations for the Optimisation of Tidal to Hydrogen Systems’ was prepared by Richard Sey, EMEC Senior Metocean Engineer and Catrin Garrett, EMEC Hydrogen R&D Engineer.

Read the full report to dive deeper into the modelling, results and recommendations for optimising tidal-to-hydrogen systems.

D6.2 FORWARD2030 - Hydrogen energy modelling

371 Downloads
Details...

Learn more about EMEC’s modelling capabilities:

• Call us: 01856 852060
• Email: commercial@emec.org.uk
• Visit: EMEC metocean services

Further reading:

Alternative Offtake Routes for Tidal Stream Energy – Public Summary Report

A new paper has been published by researchers from The University of Edinburgh exploring the socio-economic benefits of tidal power to the European economy.

The study was conducted as part of the FORWARD2030 project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Lead author, Dr Donald R. Noble, Research Associate at the University of Edinburgh, recently presented the study at the 16th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC) in Maderia (pictured above) and provides some key insights below.

This work aims to quantify the wider socio-economic benefits to the European economy arising from building and operating tidal power projects. It considers both the broad-scale with a regional analysis from now until 2050, and offers project-level context from a near-term Orkney case study.

Europe is at the forefront of developing and deploying tidal stream technology, with a significant pipeline of projects to be built over the coming years, mostly in the UK and France, but with a supply chain spanning across Europe. Tidal stream power offers a predictable source of renewable energy, contributing to energy security and net zero targets.

For this study, the socio-economic benefits resulting from developing, building and operating tidal stream projects were modelled and quantified using the common metrics of gross value added (GVA) and full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs and cumulative job-years of employment. As the future is uncertain, credible assumptions were made around the deployment of tidal technology in different markets, the expected cost-reduction trajectory and typical breakdown of project costs, as well as the local content within the supply chain for these projects.

With a similar growth rate to wind power, there is the potential for 20 to 40 GW of tidal stream turbines to be connected to the European electricity grid by 2050. Similarly, there could be an export market of 60 to 80 GW over this same period. While costs for tidal projects are currently higher than many other renewables, these are expected to reduce as more projects are built. An ambitious but achievable “learning rate” of almost 15% has been used, consistent with what has been observed in other comparable technologies in recent decades.

Results at a European level

The total GVA from developing, building and operating tidal stream farms in Europe from now until 2050 could be between €15bn and €46.5bn depending on deployment and supply chain ambition. This is shown in Figure 1. The international export market could add a further €2bn to €26bn in GVA to the European economy. The benefits in striving for a higher ambition in supply chain retention are clear given they are more than double the lower ambition scenario regardless of the deployment assumptions.

Figure 1 | Total GVA for European projects and international exports by scenario of deployment at supply chain ambition.

It is important to remember that it is people working in the industry that generate the GVA, therefore the results in Figure 2 regarding total employment look similar to Figure 1.

In the high deployment higher supply chain ambition scenario on the right, by 2050 there could be almost 70,000 FTE jobs from tidal stream projects in Europe, plus an additional 40,000 FTE jobs supported by exports.

Figure 2 | Total FTE job-years for European projects and international exports by scenario of deployment and supply chain ambition.

The breakdown of jobs by project cost centre is shown in Figure 3. By far the largest share, almost half, comes from manufacturing the generating device. Ongoing operation and maintenance (O&M) over the lifetime is the next largest share, growing to over 24% of all FTE jobs in the year 2050, as there are more devices installed.

The other project cost-centres modelled are the supply of the balance of plant such as cables and moorings, the development and project management, plus the installation and commissioning. Decommissioning is not shown, as given the 25-year project lifetime assumptions this is very limited by 2050.

Figure 3 | Share of FTE jobs in 2050 by main project cost centres.

Project level context – Orkney case study

To illustrate the potential economic benefits of a small project built over the near-term, results are presented for an Orkney project case study. This is a hypothetical 30 MW project in Orkney, Scotland with 12 Orbital O2-X turbines built and installed between 2026 and 2030. The supply chain is assumed to be 100% European, geographically split into the Orkney Islands, the rest of Scotland, rest of the UK, and the rest of Europe following expectations for the upcoming turbine construction.

As shown in Figure 4, this near-term project could generate around £100m (€118m) in GVA to Scotland, with additional value in the rest of the UK and Europe. The build phase (construction and installation) could provide over 1,000 job-years of employment, equivalent to around 170 FTE jobs located across Europe. Ongoing O&M is a further 300 job-years employment, or around 13 FTE jobs over the 25-year lifetime; these would mostly be located in Orkney and Scotland, near to the project site.

Figure 4 | Share of Orkney project GVA by spend location.	Figure 5 | Cumulative Orkney project job-years by spend location and project stage.

Conclusions

There are considerable potential economic benefits from building tidal stream projects in Europe from now until 2050. This could amount to €73 bn in gross value added (GVA) from European projects and technology exports. Tidal stream projects are also a source of high-value jobs in Europe, potentially growing to over 110,000 FTE jobs in 2050. These are predominantly in building the devices and in ongoing operations and maintenance. The jobs and value added demonstrated in this analysis are at a European, national, and local level.

More details and results can be found in the paper published as part of the proceedings of the 16th EWTEC, 8 Sept 2025. It is available open-access via the University of Edinburgh Research Explorer. See: Research paper: The socio-economic benefits of tidal power to the European economy, Proc. EWTEC, vol. 16, Sep. 2025

This summer, EMEC carried out a series of drifting acoustic surveys to measure the underwater soundscape around Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine. The O2 has been operating at EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal energy site since 2021.

The surveys were conducted as part of the FORWARD2030 project, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

In this article, our Environmental Coordinator, Millie Green, offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how we’re monitoring underwater noise at our test sites.

Drifting acoustic surveys were carried out by EMEC throughout July and August 2025 to better understand the noise generated by tidal turbines underwater.

Why monitor underwater sound?

As marine animals use underwater sound to communicate, navigate and find food, acoustic surveys are a vital part of assessing the environmental impact of tidal energy devices. Since the ocean energy sector is still emerging, measuring the noise produced by these technologies helps EMEC, developers and regulators understand potential effects on marine life and identify appropriate mitigations. This evidence-based approach supports more informed decision-making and can streamline future permitting by improving regulatory confidence in the sector’s environmental performance.

How does EMEC monitor underwater sound?

The set up involved deploying SoundTrap hydrophones – underwater audio recorders – encased in drogues and suspended around 5 meters below the surface. Each hydrophone is tethered to a buoy, which in turn is linked to a separate float equipped with a flag, light and GPS tracker. This set up ensures visibility, accurate location data and easy retrieval.

Thanks to Brian Polagye, Chirstopher Bassett and their team at the University of Washington, USA, who guided our monitoring solution with their DAISY design and provided feedback on our plans.

During deployment, our vessel’s engine and sonar are switched off to prevent interference, allowing the hydrophones to drift naturally with the tide and capture acoustic data.

Why use drifting surveys?

We follow international standards (IEC TS 62600-40:2019) for acoustic monitoring of marine energy converters. In high-flow tidal sites like the Fall of Warness, placing a hydrophone in a stationary position (e.g. on the seabed) can result in recordings dominated by the sound of water rushing past the sensor. By allowing the hydrophone to drift with the tide, we reduce some of this noise and get a clearer picture of the turbine’s acoustic output.

Acoustic surveys in action – summer 2025

We began with a set of control surveys. These took place in Westray South, northeast of EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal test site, during spring tides. We recorded underwater noise in a similar tidal environment to our test site, but without an operational tidal turbine in the vicinity. The hydrophones were left to drift over 1000 meters each time, on the flood tide.

With our baseline data in place, we then teamed up with colleagues from Orbital Marine Power for two days of surveys around the O2 tidal turbine, again on the flood tides during spring tides.

The first day focused on acoustics along the port side of the O2, followed by surveys downstream of the device on day two. We completed 45 drifts in total, most lasting around 3 minutes although some were allowed to drift a little longer. On the final four drifts we trialled the use of two drifting hydrophones at the same time to help more accurately locate where sound is coming from.

Next steps

The data collected is now being processed, with onsite observation notes digitised and sound recordings being cut based on GPS positioning. This will feed into a report on the turbine’s acoustic profile.

This work exemplifies EMEC’s commitment to supporting developers with robust environmental monitoring. By generating high-quality acoustic data, we help developers and regulators build a clearer understanding of how marine energy technologies interact with their surroundings, ensuring the sustainable development of this emerging sector.

 
 
Millie Green
Environmental Coordinator, EMEC

Interested in acoustic characterisation for your marine energy project?

• Call us: 01856 852060
• Email: commercial@emec.org.uk
• Visit: EMEC environmental services

Further reading:

• Orbital’s Commitment to Restoring Our Oceans
• Polagye et al. (2024), Performance of a Drifting Acoustic Instrumentation SYstem (DAISY) for characterizing radiated noise from marine energy converters. J. Ocean Eng. Mar. Energy

The thing with waves at sea is they don’t come along on their own. They come in groups and their impact is a function of where you are, what you are doing and how prepared you are for them. Waves are also the result of some event at sea such as a storm or the accumulated energy from weather roughening up the water many miles away.

The same seems to apply to change. Several changes arriving in quick succession can knock the unwary or unprepared off their feet. Some may result from actions or decisions taken many miles away. But just like waves, change can be surfed and be exciting for those prepared.

Set up as a catalyst for innovation and R&D, we have become adept at reacting to change, be that in political circumstances and policies or changing market demands; for innovation such changes can represent huge opportunity. Innovation, like surfing, is hard but exciting. The projects we host are first-of-a-kind pilots and often unearth unexpected challenges and unknown issues. Tackling these with limited timescales and budgets creates extremely valuable learning and often new projects.

EMEC has played a key part in instigating the unprecedented marine energy activities that have taken place in Orkney over recent years; not only paving a way for the technologies of the future, but also supporting the development of the skills and supply chains that are needed to build them at scale.

Whilst 2024 has seen a marked shift in the political landscape, it was reassuring this year to have our work and impact recognised by both the outgoing and incoming governments. In May, we received a funding boost of £3 million from the UK Government to help unlock EMEC growth opportunities to help deliver UK net zero ambitions and there’s a strong message around the need to decarbonise coming from the new Labour government.

Within the first couple of months of the new government, we welcomed the new Climate Minister, Kerry McCarthy MP to Orkney, closely followed by a fact-finding visit by officials from the Department of Net Zero and Energy Security. The fact that they came here to see first-hand how clean offshore technologies and island-grown energy expertise can contribute to the Government’s clean power mission is refreshing and empowering.

Investment in R&D and emerging technologies will be key to allow the UK to achieve its 2030 targets and net zero and we’re well placed to support initiatives such as GB Energy and Clean Power 2030 Mission Control in the quest to accelerate renewable and low carbon technologies.

As 2024 comes to a close we wanted to take some time to reflect on progress being made and changes we expect to see over the coming years. The following summary outlines the breadth of activity we have been involved in as well as signposting more detailed information which I hope will be of interest.

Looking ahead, we know that 2025 is going to be a busy year and I saw for myself at the relaunch of the Marine Energy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in Westminster how much interest there is in what EMEC is doing. I was delighted to be present in the first meeting which brought together MPs and industry leaders, with Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, as Chair, to discuss how to realise the UK’s marine energy potential. With clear interest at the highest level and the determination I see day to day up here in the centre of the industry, the newly created alignment of interests is palpable and exciting.

We are ready to surf the waves of change needed and I am grateful for all the years of preparation that colleagues have invested into getting us ready for the challenge. 2025 looks like it is going to be an exciting year… again.

Enjoy the read and feel free to get in touch.

Neil Kermode
Managing Director

Sign up to our newsletter to stay updated on EMEC updates throughout the year.

Ocean Energy

Ambitions and progress

The UK has strong ambitions for deploying wave and tidal energy because of the benefit it can bring. The UK’s wave and tidal energy technology lead offers energy security and economic benefit with more than 80% UK project content worth an estimated £41 billion GVA to the UK economy by 2050.

Our industry body, the Marine Energy Council (MEC), has clear industry asks of Government to cement the UK’s lead in tidal stream and wave energy:

• Introduce dedicated innovation funding for capturing energy security, economic and system benefits.
• Set 2035 deployment targets – 1 GW tidal stream deployment, and 300 MW for wave energy, by 2035.
• Maintain and create clear routes to market, including revenue support, investment in early array deployment sites and creating a strategic taskforce to realise the potential for ocean energy in the UK.

As one of the MEC’s lead partners, EMEC fully supports these asks and included them in our own manifesto asks during the general election. EMEC’s Corporate Affairs Director, Eileen Linklater, recently joined Richard Arnold from the MEC to reflect on UK policy developments in marine energy for a ReEnergise podcast, hosted by Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.

The podcast discusses one of the most promising political announcements of the year – the results of Allocation Round 6 (AR6) of the UK’s Contracts for Difference renewable auction. Six projects across five sites secured contracts to deliver 28 MW of tidal stream energy adding to the pipeline of projects due to come online over the next few years. There is now over 130 MW of tidal stream projects due to become operational by 2029 in the UK; 83 MW of which are planned to be deployed in Scotland.

However to realise this, the sector needs to get technologies into the water for longer periods of testing and demonstration now, as well as readying sites for arrays to accelerate the progression from single prototype to multi device demonstrations over the coming decade.

A new report, published by EMEC alongside the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, highlights the important role alternative offtake routes for tidal stream energy can play in enabling the sector’s development, particularly given existing grid constraints. Funded by Crown Estate Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the report delves into several offtake routes including community embedded generation, power for local small-scale industrial demands such as whisky distilleries, hydrogen applications and the production of synthetic fuels. Key recommendations focus on strategic planning around best use of resources adjacent to industries in need of decarbonisation, reducing risk for community scale projects, and increasing thresholds for consenting requirements to better support projects at different scales. These insights aim to inform future leasing design and identify practical approaches to resolving deliverability constraints.

EMEC is also actively pursuing the expansion of both our grid-connected test sites to accommodate demonstrations of multiple technologies with work in progress to expand the tidal site at the Fall of Warness to 50 MW and the wave energy test site at Billia Croo as well.

Read on to find out about the pipeline of projects gearing up to deploy at our sites.

Tidal energy – progressing to arrays

Orbital continue to operate its O2 tidal turbine at EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal energy site, with a recent generation record achieved for the most amount of power from a single six-hour tide clocking 8.63 MWh – enough power to meet the electricity demand for the average UK home for three years.

EMEC are working with Orbital on a number of European-funded innovation projects which will see a step change in the scale deployment of Orbital’s technology:

• MaxBlade is investigating the full lifecycle of tidal turbine blades to deliver essential blade and rotor innovations to increase blade length from 10 m to 13 m and create the world’s longest tidal turbine blade.
• FORWARD2030 is developing a multi-vector energy system combining predictable floating tidal energy, wind generation, grid export, battery storage and green hydrogen production.
• EURO-TIDES is focused on accelerating the commercial deployment of Orbital’s technology through deploying a 9.6 MW tidal turbine array at EMEC over the coming years.

Another Scottish tidal developer, Nova Innovation, has also been awarded EU funding in collaboration to scale up deployment of its seabed mounted tidal turbines. The SEASTAR project aims to deploy a 4 MW, 16 turbine, tidal energy farm at EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal energy site.

Magallanes is working on the design of its ATIR 2.0 tidal energy device and we are looking forward to supporting them in demonstrating it at EMEC in the near future.

Wave energy – scaling up

On the wave energy front, Irish developer OceanEnergy has signed a berth agreement to test its 1 MW OE35 floating wave energy converter at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave energy site. The EU Horizon Europe funded WEDUSEA project will demonstrate the OE35 over a two-year period with demonstration at EMEC expected to begin in 2025/26.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh-based developer, Mocean Energy, which first demonstrated its scale Blue X prototype at our Scapa Flow test site in 2021 followed by a demonstration off the east coast of Orkney in 2023/24, is preparing to deploy a 250 kW wave machine at our Billia Croo wave test site in the near future as part of a £3 million EuropeWave project.

We’re also delighted to be working with one of our earliest wave energy clients again – AW Energy. The recently kicked off ONDEP project has been awarded €19 million from the EU’s Horizon Europe funding program to deploy a 2 MW wave energy array featuring four WaveRoller wave energy converters in Portugal. AW Energy tested components for the WaveRoller device at Billia Croo in 2005.

Lifecycle analysis – from deployment to decommissioning

This summer, the former OpenHydro tidal energy platform was decommissioned and removed from EMEC’s tidal site at the Fall of Warness after 18 years in situ. Installed in 2006, OpenHydro was EMEC’s first tidal client and in 2008, became the first device to generate tidal power to the UK grid. Over the years, OpenHydro tested seven turbines, with the final one accruing over 10,000 hours of run time. Unfortunately, the company went into administration in 2018 and having explored opportunities to repurpose the remaining platform, it was ultimately decided to progress with decommissioning. The turbine was removed in 2022 and EMEC worked in collaboration with local marine contractors Ocean Kinetics and Green Marine, who led the marine operation to remove the platform, cutting the pile foundations to the seabed.

EMEC’s environmental team carried out surveys on the platform’s piles to collect data on biofouling and corrosion impacts. This data is now with our partners at the University of Hull for analysis with a view to publishing results next year which will help inform industry.

Offshore and floating wind

With thousands of MW of floating wind due to be deployed in Scottish waters over the next 20 years, Orkney and EMEC is located at the epicentre of the ScotWind offshore wind lease areas. EMEC has an emerging R&D portfolio in this field, bringing over 20 years’ experience of supporting marine energy technology demonstrations to the sector.

Component and sub-system trials

EMEC specialises in facilitating at sea trials of marine technologies, primarily for wave and tidal energy, however we’re seeing increased demand from the offshore wind sector as well.
In October, Apollo tested its PALM (Pull and Lock Marine) Charger at EMEC’s Scapa Flow test site. The ‘plug and play’ charging point is designed to enable electric service vessels to recharge while operating offshore for extended periods, e.g. at offshore wind farms.

The trials were conducted in collaboration with Orkney-based Leask Marine and EMEC to demonstrate the technology in a real offshore environment. Apollo completed multiple connect, power and disconnect operations under a variety of sea conditions with high reliability of the mechanical and electrical connection. The tests provided key insights into the marine handling operations which will inform the next stage of development and support final design refinements. The project was supported by nearly £800,000 in funding from the UK Department for Transport through Innovate UK.

A national floating wind test centre

EMEC’s white paper outlining the need for a National Floating Wind Test Centre in the UK has been well received by industry. The paper compares 5-year average and 100-year storm event conditions at existing and proposed floating wind test sites across Europe with the metocean resources that project developers will face at typical ScotWind, INTOG, and Celtic Sea sites.

The analysis shows that existing European sites are insufficiently energetic to be truly representative of commercial floating wind projects in UK waters and highlights the need for the UK to establish its own dedicated floating wind test centre to adequately prove and de-risk floating wind technologies for project insurability and bankability. Download our national floating wind test site project information booklet for further details.

Innovation calls for offshore wind

We launched our flagship £1 million innovation competition for offshore wind at the end of 2023, alongside platinum sponsor, West of Orkney Windfarm. The Offshore Wind R&I Programme aims to support companies to explore ways to overcome specific technical challenges in offshore wind development, accelerating innovation in the sector while embedding economic benefits in Scotland.

The programme is searching for novel solutions to help deliver offshore wind faster, cheaper and at lower risk. A series of innovation calls will address different challenge areas facing the West of Orkney Windfarm spanning metocean, installation, logistics, and operations and maintenance (O&M).

We’ll have some exciting announcement around this early next year as we announce the winners of our first innovation call and the launch of our second innovation call.

EMEC is also exploring opportunities to broaden the remit of the programme, inviting project developers to sponsor the programme and/or innovation calls targeting specific technical, delivery or commercial challenges.

Integrating renewables into a clean energy system

As well as demonstrating and testing offshore renewable energy technologies, EMEC is exploring new technologies, energy vectors and storage solutions to maximise the use of renewables and best integrate them into the energy system of the future.

Hydrogen

EMEC operates a green hydrogen production and storage R&D facility onshore in Eday, adjacent to our Fall of Warness tidal test site. We are in the process of commissioning our new upgraded 670 kW electrolyser which we’re hoping to bring online in 2025; this has taken a lot longer than expected due to various challenges within the emerging hydrogen sector. Once the electrolyser is fully commissioned, it will be integrated with vanadium flow batteries in a world-first demonstration combining tidal power with battery storage and hydrogen production. This will ‘smooth’ tidal generation to create continuous, on-demand electricity to turn into hydrogen. With hydrogen widely promoted as a cornerstone of future decarbonisation strategies we have gained valuable learnings from our first mover experience and various hydrogen projects that we can share with others looking to incorporate hydrogen into renewable energy systems.

Our understanding of hydrogen’s role in the future energy landscape continues to evolve, as we focus more of our attention on hard-to-electrify sectors like industry, aviation and maritime. We increasingly see hydrogen’s potential as a building block for the creation of synthetic fuels, particularly within the Orkney context. Liquid-based e-fuels, synthesised from renewable hydrogen combined with non-fossil carbon, offer a major advantage — they can act as drop-in fuels, requiring little or no modification of the existing engine and refuelling infrastructure.

As e-fuels exist in a liquid state, they are also easier to store and transport than gaseous hydrogen. When burned, they release net-zero carbon emissions.

Our Managing Director, Neil Kermode, provided more insight into the opportunities of synthetic aviation fuel for Scotland’s energy transition at the Scottish Energy Forum.

We have fed our hydrogen knowledge and expertise into various R&D projects this year spanning production and end use, including:

• In January, we kicked off a project in collaboration with CATAGEN, Orkney Harbours and Belfast Harbour exploring the opportunity of bringing novel e-fuel production technology to market to help decarbonise the UK’s maritime activities. Funded by the Department of Transport, the project is preparing a techno-economic feasibility study, with EMEC feeding experience and learnings from previous maritime projects, exploring the benefits and challenges of synthetic fuels and its applicability in Orkney.
• Project Verdant, a preliminary design and feasibility study exploring the integration of a hydrogen fuel cell system onto an offshore wind crew transfer vessel (CTV) operated by Green Marine. EMEC provided insight on refuelling logistics, safety protocols, and training requirements while conducting detailed economic modelling for the retrofitted hydrogen CTV.
• HySKUA, a feasibility study exploring the viability of offshore hydrogen production integrated with offshore wind.
• HyBrine, a study looking at the feasibility of seawater electrolysis technology to capture hydrogen and carbon dioxide from seawater. The study focusses on how this technology may be applied to the production of e-fuels.
• Working with Intelligent Plant, a study developing a decision support system using explainable artificial intelligence to support operational efficiency and apply to hydrogen safety.
• Off-grid Green Hydrogen Production Demonstration, a feasibility study in collaboration with Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult. We delivered hydrogen knowledge exchange workshops and a report to feed into the development of a possible demonstration.

Islands decarbonisation 

EMEC is leading the Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ), a ten-year programme supporting Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides to become lighthouse communities in the energy transition. It is exploring and trialing solutions to decarbonise that have replicability and application worldwide. The programme is funded by the UK and Scottish Governments as part of the Islands Growth Deal. Since being established, ICNZ team has held various workshops and public engagement events across the islands, and attended Shetland’s Climate Festival and the Orkney agricultural shows, speaking with community groups to understand their concerns and priorities related to energy and decarbonisation.

Through discussions with partners and stakeholders eight project areas have been prioritised initially including peatland restoration and removal of blockers to smart meter rollout across the three island groups. More localised projects are looking at domestic decarbonisation, waste reduction and circular economy, hydrogen skills and innovation, agriculture and sustainable farming, a digital energy heritage trail and the Island Games 2025.

The team have also been supporting:

• The Community Energy Scotland led Island Community Action Network (iCAN) which meets online monthly for themed presentations and discussion on decarbonisation and climate activities. Meetings have looked at community transport, local waste reduction, the Rural Energy Hubs project and community climate action planning with the Carbon Neutral Islands project.
• ICNZ project partners Aquatera with developing a data exchange and carbon calculation tool to address the lack of accurate island specific data for understanding, benchmarking and tracking carbon usage.
• The IsleAI project to create a platform to help identify areas affected by fuel poverty.
• Rural Energy Hubs which is developing the Brae Rural Energy Hub in Shetland, due to open in summer 2025, to provide information and practical solutions to inspire and support communities to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs. The warm centre includes an innovative mix of co-working spaces, a café, rapid charging facilities, a car club and e-bike hire.
• Two new Innovate UK funded projects – Electric Orkney and SeaChange – are exploring decarbonisation and electrification solutions in maritime.

If you’d like to learn more about Orkney’s path to a new zero future, Neil Kermode of EMEC and Dr Gareth Davies of Aquatera hosted the inaugural Pete Oswald memorial lecture at the 2024 Orkney International Science Festival delving into Orkney’s decarbonisation journey for the next 5-10 years for. Green and Blue Horizons is available to watch on YouTube.

Engagement and impact

EMEC started the year having won the Outstanding Service Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards 2023 and being awarded Independent Research Organisation (IRO) status. Both are testament to the hard work and diligence shown by our staff over the last 20 years and EMEC’s added value in applied industrial research. Receiving IRO status makes us eligible to compete for research grant funding from the UK’s seven research councils and thus opens new opportunities to collaborate with universities and other research institutions. Please do reach out if you would like to work together on projects that drive decarbonisation.

Connecting with colleagues in industry, academia and government is key to building partnerships and sharing knowledge to help progress innovation and renewables in the UK. Highlights this year include exhibiting alongside the Orkney supply chain at All-Energy in Glasgow, and the more recent Ocean Energy Europe conference in Aviemore. Special thanks to Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, Scottish Minister for Climate Action for popping past for a chat. We presented alongside Crown Estate Scotland to share insight from the aforementioned tidal offtake report, and supported our MaRINERGi project partners with a workshop looking at integrating offshore renewable energy testing across Europe.

We also co-hosted an International WaTERS consenting workshop with FORCE prior to the Marine Renewables Canada conference in Nova Scotia. Delegates toured the FORCE test site at the Bay of Fundy followed by a workshop delving into consenting and regulatory challenges and opportunities.

Closer to home, a highlight of our year is always the Orkney International Science Festival, where our annual open day at our Billia Croo wave test site attracted over 60 locals and tourists to the site on a beautiful but windy September day. The following day we set up at the Family Day in Kirkwall to have a chat with the researchers and engineers of the future. Engaging with young people on green career paths and opportunities in a net zero future is vital to ensure we have the skills in place as the renewables sector builds out, and on that note we have also attended local careers fairs, been engaging with our local STEM ambassador to support local teachers, and we hosted our renewables revolution open day during Shopping Week attracting over 150 kids (and parents) to the Orkney Research and Innovation Centre.

We continue to support local events having sponsored events like the Orkney Amateur Swimming Club Gala, Eday Show and the Orkney Folk Festival, with many of our team volunteering during the festival, as well as supporting local projects, including the Eday Heritage Centre.

Visitors to EMEC this year have included students, researchers and project partners from around the globe, as well visits from regulatory bodies, Government officials and our new Climate Minister. Aware that it’s not always possible for folk to travel to Orkney, we have also launched a new virtual tour of our sites, in collaboration with Scottish Renewables. The Renewables 360 project brings key Scottish renewable energy projects onto Google Street View, where you can now virtually walk through the onshore facilities at EMEC’s wave and tidal energy test sites as well as Orbital Marine Power’s O2 device demonstrating at the Fall of Warness.

Showcasing Orkney energy innovation further afield, we were delighted to team up with the Science Museum for their major new gallery, Energy Revolution, The Adani Green Energy Gallery which opened to the public in earlier this year. The gallery focusses on the past, present and future energy systems, with a highlight attraction being a seven metre long tidal turbine blade made by Orbital Marine Power. Used on the SR2000, a 63 metre long, 500 tonne tidal turbine deployed at EMEC’s test site from 2016-18, this prototype blade helped generate enough electricity to power a thousand homes harnessing the strong tidal flows around Orkney.

The development of EMEC – the world’s first and leading test centre for marine energy – has had a significant impact in Orkney as well as across the UK economy in terms of employment, supply chain development and encouraging public and private investment to service the sector. The economic impact assessment found that the creation of EMEC, and subsequent activities that have burgeoned since, has amounted to £370 million gross value add (GVA) to the UK economy. £263 million of that was accrued in Scotland; and half of that, £130 million, in the Orkney Islands where EMEC is head quartered.

And finally….

Congratulations to Neil Kermode OBE, who was awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award at the Subsea Expo Awards 2024, having dedicated his career to combatting climate change, identifying, innovating and trialling solutions that can reduce carbon emissions and driving the global development of the marine renewable energy sector.

Wishing our community, clients, project partners, suppliers, funders, and supporters from around the world a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2025!

The challenge in finding a sustainable alternative to aviation fuel could offer new opportunities for Scotland’s carbon capture and green hydrogen industries, says Neil Kermode, Managing Director of the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

This article is based on a talk Neil gave to the Scottish Energy Forum on 24 October 2024.

Scotland is at a pivotal moment in its energy transition, with hydrogen widely promoted as a cornerstone of future decarbonisation strategies.

There is no doubt green hydrogen will have a role to play – in industry and in decarbonising those ‘hard to reach’ parts of the economy – but it is not a solution for everything.

It is not easily transported or stored, and it lacks the density of liquid fuels that some end users require – for example aviation.

However, with the correct processes, green hydrogen can be combined with CO2 to produce a synthetic aviation fuel indistinguishable from the original.

This new green fuel is extremely valuable as it is energy dense, can be relatively easily transported, and requires minimal engine and refuelling infrastructure modifications – offering a major opportunity for Scotland.

This is not theoretical. It has already been done, in Orkney, and the fuel has been used by the RAF in a Guinness world-record flight.

Developing a zero-fossil carbon aviation fuel is a major goal for industrial nations – and home-grown synthetic fuels can offer a genuine green option that plays to Scotland’s strengths, both in the production of green hydrogen and in the use of CO2.

We are experts in both.

In Orkney, we have a long tradition of innovation. We were home to the UK’s first onshore wind turbine, and more recently to pioneering wave and tidal energy projects.

However, as an island, we have long lacked the grid infrastructure that will allow us to export the green electricity we produce, and so necessity has allowed us to develop alternatives – including green hydrogen.

Orkney has been a pioneer in the development of green hydrogen – with our first production using tidal energy in 2017 – and this early exposure has enabled us to explore where this ‘wonder gas’ can best be used.

In the years since, we have led a number of green hydrogen projects – such and ‘Surf ‘n’ Turf – to harness wind and tidal energy for hydrogen production, Hyspirits – exploring the feasibility of hydrogen for distilling, and HyDIME – looking at hydrogen as a fuel in marine transport.

One of the most promising however, has been in the production of synthetic fuel for aviation.

In 2021 EMEC supported IGTL Technology Limited with Zero Petroleum in demonstrating the creation of synthetic hydrocarbon gasoline for use in the aviation sector on behalf of the Royal Air Force.

A synthetic gasoline demonstration plant was installed on a temporary basis onshore at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave energy test site. The plant used hydrogen produced by EMEC from water by electrolysis as feedstock.

The synthetic fuel created by Zero Petroleum at EMEC’s site was then used by the Royal Air Force in a demonstration flight as part of their Project MARTIN, securing the Guinness World Records title of first aircraft powered by synthetic fuel.

Crucially, in the test lab, the fuel was indistinguishable from normal fossil gasoline, and in flight its performance was identical.

Of course, the mass production of synthetic aviation fuel would require significant scale up, but it plays to Scotland’s strengths – we have an abundant wind resource with GWs due to come onstream in the decades ahead, yet we have a grid infrastructure that will struggle to transport that electricity to where it is required.

The production of green hydrogen – in places such as Orkney – is a possible alternative. But again, there is no simple or cheap way to transport the gas to the industrial centres in the south.

It therefore makes sense to use that valuable feedstock and combine it with CO2 to make a highly valuable fuel which can be more easily moved.

From there, it is not a big leap to imagine repurposing some of Scotland’s existing oil and gas infrastructure – for example the Flotta Oil Terminal – to the production of sustainable synthetic aviation fuel.

None of the routes to a fossil free future is simple or straightforward but synthetic fuel plays to Scotland’s strengths and is an idea I believe we should pursue.

We welcome the Scottish Government’s ambition to prepare Scotland for a just energy transition. The draft plan outlines the route map of actions the Scottish Government will take to deliver a vision to 2045 which envisages a flourishing net zero energy system supplying affordable, resilient and clean energy to Scotland’s workers, households, communities and businesses.

Reaching this vision will be contingent upon successfully driving technology development along its learning curves. Below is a summary of our response to the government’s consultation on the draft strategy, followed by EMEC’s full response available to download.

Marine energy

Within the route map, the government highlights the roles for different energy sectors including marine energy. EMEC strongly supports the Scottish Government setting an ambition for marine energy and feels this ambition should be matched with a clear pathway for delivery supported by an enabling policy and regulatory environment.
For Scotland to realise the benefits of the marine energy industry, it is imperative that more technology goes into Scottish waters. EMEC is seeking to expand its test and demonstration facilities to enable the next steps in scaling up the sector towards pre-commercial arrays.

Floating wind

Similarly, for Scotland to harness the potential of nascent sectors like floating offshore wind, the country would benefit from a floating offshore wind test centre modelled upon EMEC. To fulfil ambitions around deployment of floating offshore wind turbines in Scottish waters, it will be critical to ensure that the technology has been designed for the conditions it will face and has been sufficiently tested and proven for both performance and survivability.

As the only accredited test centre for wave and tidal renewable energy in the world, EMEC has an established and fundamental role in verifying performance to encourage investment. By setting up a demonstration site, EMEC can help deliver floating offshore wind earlier than will otherwise be the case.

Green hydrogen

The Scottish Government has strong ambitions for the country to have a leading role in hydrogen production and to grow a hydrogen economy. From experience of leading the way in hydrogen production in Orkney, we have found that there are significant advantages in looking to use hydrogen in the production of synthetic fuels that are free of fossil carbon and would strongly suggest that this area requires increased attention and support.
Community benefits and shared ownership

The draft plan also sets out ambitions for community benefits and shared ownership opportunities on renewable energy projects. Whilst it is positive to see development of good practice principles for community benefit from offshore renewable energy developments, this should not substitute place-based assessments and engagement and we urge that attention be paid to the risks of biases against community-based initiatives.

Innovation funding

Innovation and demonstration projects will be crucial in developing an industry to support the Scottish Government’s ambitions and vision of a flourishing net zero energy system. Innovation funding is therefore required at both the Scottish and UK levels, and we encourage the Scottish Government to consider how best to provide its own support while encouraging the UK Government to do the same.

‘Learning by doing’ is going to be a vital step in seeking to make the revolutionary progress the nation needs to make to decarbonise. EMEC’s world-leading facilities can play a fundamentally important role in that journey.

EMEC's response to Scottish Government's draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan May 2023

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Energy moved to centre stage in 2022, not because of climate change, but because of the war in Ukraine. The huge rise in fossil fuel prices has fuelled inflation and is leading to widespread hardship. Thank goodness for renewables as the financial impact of the war would have been even greater had we not been developing our renewable energy capacity in the recent past.

But the price rise in all electricity, including that which has nothing to do with fossil fuels, has shown how far from rational the ‘normal’ energy system is. Orkney has long been calling for change to the UK’s archaic system; finally it looks like everybody is waking up to the opportunity to improve the way we generate and distribute energy, albeit in the wake of the huge costs we now face from past decisions and inaction to decarbonise.

So as EMEC enters its 20th year we see the work we and our partners are doing to find ways to harvest energy from our oceans increasingly important. Not only that but the experience of nearly two decades of solid slog has rewarded us with useful insight into a myriad of aspects of the energy system. EMEC’s work on green hydrogen has become increasingly sought after given our on the ground experience and our plans to help floating offshore wind develop are receiving strong support.

It feels like new chapters are starting to be written in the story of transitioning from fossil dependency to true sustainability.

All this is happening against a challenging financial backdrop, but the imperative to decarbonise only continues to increase. We find it really rewarding to hear other people’s stories of progress and it was a great honour to have been asked to become nominators in The Earthshot Prize this year. This imaginative prize seeks to find, publicise and reward organisations who are fighting back against planetary degradation, as well as motivate others to join the fight and make the most of the opportunities of change.

Thanks to pioneering work done in the past enabling renewables (onshore wind, offshore wind, PV etc) to be deployed, we are growing our energy security and working towards a more stable and affordable future. As we enter 2023 we know that the work we are doing now will not only lower bills for those who come after us but give them a chance of inheriting a habitable planet. EMEC see it as a privilege to be allowed to help make this difference.

So the following is a slightly breathless gallop though some of what EMEC, our clients and supporters have achieved together in 2022. In part it gives us a chance to say thank you to everybody who contributed and has supported our work as funders, suppliers, staff and members of the community. None of this would have been achieved without you.

I hope you find this informative, but mostly I hope you find it just a bit inspirational about what can be achieved when we set our minds to it and just try.

We are determined to play our part in building a sustainable future. If you can help us or if we can help you then please let us know.

Enjoy the read and please get in touch.

Neil Kermode
Managing Director

Offshore energy

Wave energy

2022 kicked off with the arrival of AWS Ocean Energy’s Archimedes Waveswing in Orkney. Funded by Wave Energy Scotland, and supported by the Interreg NWE Ocean DEMO project, the 16 kW wave energy converter (WEC) underwent initial shakedown testing at EMEC’s Scapa Flow test site demonstrating deployment, operation and recovery of the device. During its testing programme, average power of over 10 kW, and peaks of 80 kW, were achieved exceeding AWS’s predictions by 20%. When not deployed at the test site, the WaveSwing can be seen sitting on Copland’s Dock in Stromness.

Meanwhile, having completed initial demonstrations of its Blue X WEC at our Scapa Flow site in 2021, Mocean Energy is readying for deployment in Deerness, Orkney, along with a Halo subsea energy storage system designed by Verlume. We will be supporting with instrument deployment, data processing and quality control.

AWS and Mocean share lessons learnt from their real-sea demonstrations at EMEC in this ETIP Ocean and Ocean DEMO webinar.

EMEC updated and extended surveys of the Billia Croo wave test site over the summer to review the position and condition of our subsea cables and observe any others changes to site topography and geology. The new bathymetry, magnetometry and sub-bottom profiling surveys add to our understanding of the sites characteristics which will aid developers as they prepare to deploy.

We’re working with various wave energy developers readying technologies for testing at Billia Croo in the coming years. Marine Power Systems (MPS) signed up to demonstrate a multi-megawatt wave energy array at two berths in 2025/26. The PelaGen WECs will be deployed on a modular floating platform, PelaFlex. EuropeWave has also reserved a berth at Billia Croo as part of the third and final phase of the EuropeWave programme in 2025. The second phase of the programme recently got underway with five wave energy developers progressing a front-end engineering design of scaled prototype devices intended for the open-water trials; three will be selected to proceed to Phase 3 in summer 2023.

We also welcomed the launch of the €19.6 million partnership project, WEDUSEA. Co-funded by EU Horizon Europe and Innovate UK, the project will culminate with a two-year grid-connected demonstration of OceanEnergy’s OE35 WEC at our Billia Croo wave test site. In the meantime, we will support the project, feeding metocean, bathymetry and geophysical data into the design criteria for OE35.

This year we’ve also been supporting Quoceant with the development of its Q-Connect system, a modular and adaptable quick connection system for moorings and electrical cables to marine renewable devices. EMEC completed an inspection of the system, testing in accordance with our accreditation and the IEC TS62600-10 standard on assessment of marine energy mooring systems. We also hosted a webinar to share lessons learnt and project progress.

Tidal energy

A great step forward for the tidal stream energy sector came in July when the UK government awarded Contracts for Difference (CfDs) to tidal power for the first time. The CfD scheme is the government’s main mechanism for supporting low-carbon electricity generation, boosting British energy security with cleaner, more affordable, diverse and domestically generated electricity. EMEC is proud to have played a role in arguing for this ring-fenced pot of revenue support for tidal energy. A total of 41 MW of tidal energy projects were granted contracts at a tidal stream strike price of £178.54/MWh.

From this pot, Orbital Marine Power was awarded two CfDs totalling 7.2 MW tidal energy deployments at EMEC’s Fall of Warness tidal test site. Magallanes was awarded 5.6 MW for a tidal energy project at Morlais in Wales, while EMEC alumni SIMEC Atlantis Energy secured 28 MW to further develop the MeyGen site in Caithness.

We’ve had two tidal energy technologies demonstrating at the Fall of Warness site this year. We welcomed the return of the Magallanes ATIR device following maintenance works, while Orbital’s O2 floating tidal turbine has been operating on site since 2021; both have been supported by the Interreg Ocean DEMO project. Meanwhile, California-based tidal energy developer Aquantis, Inc is preparing to deploy its Tidal Power Tug at the Shapinsay Sound test site in 2023.

Since the O2 began operating, Orbital has reported peak power of 2.5 MW. The next iteration of the O2 is being developed as part of the EU funded FORWARD-2030 project which aims to develop a multi-vector energy system combining tidal energy, wind generation, grid export, battery storage and green hydrogen production. EMEC will host the demonstration, facilitating hydrogen production and delivering an environmental monitoring programme. Through 2022 the project has focused on design and procurement activities, with EMEC preparing for acoustic drift surveys to analyse the noise signature of the O2 in 2023.

Other offshore activities include the removal of the OpenHydro turbine from its test platform. A condition assessment is being carried out on the platform as EMEC explores options for repurposing the platform for other offshore R&D projects. Meanwhile, new distributed acoustic sensing and distributed temperature sensing equipment was demonstrated on EMEC’s subsea cables to monitor movement sensitivity and temperature. And a team of researchers, led by the Bryden Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, trialled a novel method to assess bio-physical interactions with floating tidal turbines. Survey methods included unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and water column current measurements alongside visual observations of seabirds and their prey around the O2 turbine. On the first day of the survey the team were greeted by a pod of killer whales travelling through the site!

We also hosted two interns over the summer to support the processing and analysis of environmental data. James Mershon analysed UAV images of marine wildlife at the Fall of Warness, while Hannah Ruskin-Dodd studied collision risk models.

Outside of Orkney, within the Interreg FCE funded TIGER project, EMEC ran ADCP campaigns at PTEC in the Isle of Wight and Raz Blanchard in France and is refining accredited test procedures for the sector.

2021 neared its close with the publication of a promising report looking at the cost reduction pathway of tidal energy, produced as part of the TIGER project. The report documents the global state of the tidal market and presents a cost reduction trajectory taking tidal energy from its current price of £260/MWh down to £78/MWh by 2035. For this to materialise, a huge ramp up of installed capacity is needed over the next decade, which in turn requires long-term policy support and continued ring-fenced funding.

Offshore wind energy

In October, we announced our aspirations to develop a new 100 MW floating offshore wind test and demonstration site. EMEC is aiming to secure a lease for a site ~20 km west of Orkney, further out to sea from our wave energy test facility at Billia Croo. We have concluded concept design, supported by Xodus Group, for a six-berth demonstration site for floating turbines of up to 20 MW rated capacity. Four of the six berths will be grid-connected, while the final two reserved for alternative applications such as hydrogen generation.

With more than 25 GW of floating wind due to be deployed in UK waters over the next 20 years, EMEC’s proposed site would offer a crucial testing ground with representative metocean conditions to those in ScotWind and Celtic Seas.

This year we also kicked off a major research and innovation (R&I) programme with the West of Orkney Windfarm. Rights to develop the 2 GW windfarm 30 km off the west coast of Orkney were secured in January with an aim to start producing power by 2030. The R&I programme is tasked with identifying ways to deliver the project more efficiently and cost effectively covering a broad range of challenges including the exposed location, environmental impacts and remote operations.

Once built, the windfarm could deliver renewable power to the Flotta Hydrogen Hub, a proposed large-scale green hydrogen production facility in Orkney for which plans are being developed by Offshore Wind Power Limited and partners, with support from EMEC.

Meanwhile, the CleanWinTur project continued researching practical solutions to minimise the impacts of biofouling on offshore wind structures. Several technologies have been trialled to deter biofouling on ladders including ultrasonic transducer, UV and thermal systems. More on that in the new year.

Building on 20 years of experience operating offshore test sites, alongside our drive to help develop innovative sustainable solutions to tackle climate change, floating offshore wind is a natural next step in the evolution of EMEC. Floating wind poses a significant opportunity for Orkney; BBC Radio Orkney discusses the opportunities and public opinion in its latest Energy Islands broadcast.
 

Green hydrogen

The potential of hydrogen technologies has gained significant attention since the UK government published its hydrogen strategy last year. The initial goal was for 5 GW of hydrogen production by 2030; the new British Energy Security Strategy doubled that to 10 GW, with at least half of this from electrolysis. The Scottish Government released its Hydrogen Action Plan this month, reconfirming ambitions for 5 GW of installed renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. EMEC continues to work hard to identify opportunities and progress efforts to support these plans and explore where green hydrogen can best play a role in a net zero economy.
 

Renewables integration for hydrogen generation and storage

Developments at EMEC’s Caldale site on Eday continued apace this year with partners and subcontractors working with EMEC to install and commission equipment onshore. EMEC’s 670 kW electrolyser is being recommissioned and has produced small amounts of hydrogen as part of the commissioning process. Alongside this, we welcomed the arrival of 48 vanadium flow batteries, supplied by Invinity Energy Systems, which have been installed and energised in EMEC’s new energy storage building. Funded by The Scottish Government, the 1.8 MWh battery system aims to ‘smooth’ tidal power by storing it during high generation periods and releasing during low generation periods to enable the continuous production of green hydrogen from tidal energy. We look forward to demonstrating the integration of these technologies in the new year.

Incorporating these site developments, the Interreg NWE ITEG project will support the demonstration of the integrated tidal, battery and hydrogen solution, with a new energy management system designed to determine whether tidal power is routed to the grid or used for hydrogen production. A series of ITEG webinars provide project and hydrogen sector updates.

We are collaborating with H2GO Power on two projects demonstrating hydrogen storage and artificial intelligence (AI). The HyAI 2 project aims to trial an AI software platform to optimise production and storage by combining historical and forecasted data on weather, renewable generation sources including wind and tidal, as well as hydrogen storage capacity and electricity prices. The project builds on initial modelling and simulations using real-word data from EMEC’s site. The second project, SHyLO (Solid Hydrogen at Low pressures) aims to install and demonstrate H2GO Power’s 1 MWh modular low-pressure hydrogen storage solution and will be integrated with the HyAI cloud platform and EMEC’s network of hydrogen assets to assess performance and commercial viability. Commissioning of the solution is expected to commence in 2023.

EMEC also welcomed a new client, Zero Host, to Eday. Zero Host’s data centre is in the process of being installed in the energy storage building and aims to reduce curtailment of the Eday community wind turbine. More on that in 2023.
 

Demonstrating hydrogen logistics and use

The BIG HIT (Building Innovative Green Hydrogen Systems in an Isolated Territory) project ended in 2022. Lessons from demonstrating kit within this project, and other pilot projects such as Surf ‘n’ Turf, are proving invaluable in paving the way for innovation and development in the sector.

As a legacy of these trailblazing projects, Orkney is one of the first locations to deploy assets across the full hydrogen value chain and is widely recognized as one of the first ‘hydrogen territories’ in Europe. By exploring integrated approaches to hydrogen production, storage, transportation and end use, significant learning was gained on the deployment, maintenance and operation of assets, with many operational challenges faced throughout the project. Learning such as electrolyser stack design, system integration and material selection has fed into EMEC’s site developments on Eday and supported wider industry and technology development. Additionally, we’ve developed a deeper understanding of hydrogen logistics enabling us to develop standard operating procedures for transporting hydrogen via road and ferry.

Our Operations Technician, Jerry Gibson, provides some insight into this learning in the Hydrogen Territories Platform webinar.

To support the transportation of hydrogen from Eday to R&D applications across Orkney and the UK, EMEC was awarded funding from the Scottish Government to secure two additional mobile hydrogen storage trailers. The trailers will improve the logistics and support new projects, positioning EMEC to expand hydrogen production in the coming years.
 

Aviation

2022 saw new opportunities for low carbon aviation demonstrations. The Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE), based at Kirkwall Airport, was given a funding boost as part of the Future Flight Challenge. SATE 2 aims to establish an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hub-and-spoke delivery network and will conduct demonstration flights of technologies including a hydrogen-electric regional aircraft and a drone flight from Scotland to Norway. EMEC will support the flight trials in the project, supplying green hydrogen and the use of a bespoke hydrogen refuelling system compatible with an airport environment.

With funding support from The Scottish Government, EMEC installed a hydrogen-powered combined heat and power (CHP) unit at Kirkwall Airport, supported by our sub-contractors. Hydrogen generated in Eday was delivered to the airport to support the commissioning process; kit will be fully trialled next year to meet some of the heat and power requirements of the airport building, producing only water vapour as a by-product.

Outside of Orkney, EMEC continue to support the HyFlyer II project with our hydrogen production and refuelling system at ZeroAvia’s R&D facility at Kemble Airport. Hydrogen produced on site has supported the ground testing of ZeroAvia’s Dornier 228 test bed aircraft, retrofitted with a hydrogen-electric powertrain. The first flight tests are expected to take place in the new year.

Hitting the headlines at the end of the year, EMEC provided green hydrogen produced in Orkney to fuel the ground test of a converted Rolls-Royce jet engine. The test took place at an outdoor test facility at Boscombe Down, UK. A video of the ground test can be viewed here.

We expect synthetic fuels will have a large part to play in aviation in the future. Listen into Pete Oswald on BBC Radio Orkney (~48 min 30 seconds in) explaining how green aviation fuel created with the help of EMEC was used by the RAF.
 

Maritime transportation

Being based on an archipelago, the maritime sector continues to be an area of strategic R&D interest for EMEC. We are investigating the role green hydrogen may have, either as a fuel or a building block to produce derivative fuels, in decarbonising the sector.

The HIMET (Hydrogen in an Integrated Maritime Energy Transition) project set out a programme of test and demonstration activities exploring maritime decarbonisation. EMEC led the consortium focussed on trials of low-carbon technologies for vessels at sea and shore-side solutions. In March, a hybrid solar PV and hydrogen engine was deployed at Hatston Pier in Kirkwall to power welfare facilities at the cruise terminal. This was used by shoreside crew welcoming cruise passengers to Orkney over the summer season and is expected to be redeployed in 2023. Feasibility studies assessing microgrid solutions and hydrogen and ammonia fuels for maritime use were also conducted. Unfortunately, due to tight project timelines and global supply chain issues, it was not possible to complete all planned demonstration activities within the duration of the project itself, however learnings and recommendations are being fed into future maritime decarbonisation projects.

EMEC are also part of three consortia following the second funding round of the Clean Maritime Decarbonisation Competition. Due to kick off in January 2023, the projects will conduct technical and economic feasibility studies associated with development and real-world demonstration. For example, project ZEPHyr (Zero Emission Hydrogen Powered Hovercraft) is an 8-month feasibility study aiming to de-risk the barriers to zero-emission hovercraft operations.
 

Local content, global impact

Local impact

Orkney is at the heart of EMEC’s DNA. We are proud to be based in Orkney and a large focus of the work we do considers how to create local impact – economically and socially as well as positioning the islands at the centre of the renewable energy revolution. Our PhD researcher, Lara Santos, is exploring the justice dimensions of emerging energy technologies particularly focused on ocean energy and green hydrogen in island communities. It’s shaping up to be a fascinating body of work.

EMEC aims to ensure the work taking place here generates ongoing local benefit. In 2021/22, 45% (£3.2 million) of EMEC’s total expenditure was spent in the local Orkney economy; since 2005, over £30 million (50% of total expenditure) has been spent by EMEC locally. As EMEC diversifies, we continue to grow with over 80 members of staff now working at EMEC, 75% of whom live and work in Orkney. We’re actively recruiting various positions across the company and have recently opened our internship programme for 2023 intake.

We strive to be a fair and equitable employer, creating a vibrant and inclusive working environment for our team. Our mean gender pay gap is 11.8%, which has halved from 23% back in 2019; we are actively working to reduce it further. We proudly joined the International Women in Engineering Day and #BreaktheBia campaigns in 2022 and held imposter syndrome workshops across the company.

In 2022 we sponsored local events such as the Folk Festival and the Orkney Blues Festival as well as local clubs like the Orkney Amateur Swimming Club and the Stromness Pipe Band. We have also donated prizes for fundraising, for example to Stromness Academy for their Christmas fair and to the Holm Sailing Club for a new safety boat.

Our employees have been engaging with young people on green career paths and opportunities in a net zero future. Activities this year have spanned STEM talks at Kirkwall Grammar School and Stromness Academy, speaking to students at the Orkney Careers Fair and working with Glasgow Science Centre on wider STEM engagement opportunities.

A highlight of the year was the Orkney International Science Festival. We held open days at our Billia Croo wave test site and hydrogen fuel cell in Kirkwall, attracting over 50 locals and tourists to each site. We held our annual science festival update in the Stromness Town Hall alongside our clients AWS and Orbital, with ~70 people joining us for the evening talk, and engaged with a younger audience at the Family Day, with a hydrogen demonstration car, marine soundscapes game, and science-fiction writing competition about “energy futures”.

We’re always interested in connecting with new audiences and excited to see the creative sectors being inspired to communicate our work through different media. In the summer, poet Ingrid Leonard spent a two-week residency at EMEC following which she published a collection of poems, ‘What the Waves Make’. And we were delighted to hear about the release of local band Fara’s new album titled Energy Islands, with EMEC credited as part of their inspiration inside the front cover.
 

Global collaboration

Following travel restrictions being lifted, we were delighted to welcome new and returning visitors back to Orkney including several members of Scottish and British parliament: Michael Matheson MSP, Lorna Slater MSP, Richard Lochhead MSP, and Rt Hon Greg Clark MP. We’ve hosted visitors from countries including Japan, Malta, Norway, Canada and New Zealand and facilitated a highly engaging visit from Crown Estate Scotland Board members.

We were delighted to get back on the conference circuit this year, crucial for connecting with colleagues in the industry and sharing knowledge and lessons learnt. Highlights include exhibiting alongside the Orkney and Highlands and Islands supply chain at All-Energy in Glasgow, special thanks to Scotland’s First Minister for popping past for a chat. The First Minister also visited us at the Royal Highland Show to discuss the innovative projects that are pioneering a low carbon future in Orkney and across Scotland.

The global ocean energy sector then converged in San Sebastian in Spain for ICOE (the International Conference on Ocean Energy). Prior to ICOE, we co-hosted the International WaTERS workshop with EVE and BiMEP, welcoming 34 delegates from 17 ocean energy test centres for two days of workshops sharing challenges and learning with one another.
 

In the spotlight

A richly deserved award was made in June, when our Chair, Andrew Mill, was awarded an OBE for services to the environment and the community in Orkney. Andrew was at the helm of EMEC when the company was set up in 2003, acting as managing director until 2005, and returned as Chair in 2014. The OBE is well earned recognition of his hard work and dedication to renewables through his time with EMEC and the impact that’s had as a significant employer in Orkney.

EMEC staff were also well recognised this year, with Caron Oag, EMEC’s Senior Marketing Officer (Hydrogen) taking home the Professional Service Award at the Scottish Renewables Young Professional Awards. Meanwhile at ICOE, EMEC’s EngD student, Alyona Naberezhnykh, was awarded first place in the poster competition for her poster ‘Can we trust turbulence models?’, while Luke Evans took first place in the photography competition in the marine environment category.

EMEC were also highly commended for the Pioneer award at the British Renewable Energy Awards.
 

Pioneering a new low carbon future

EMEC strives to support the development of solutions to combat climate change and in 2022 we became an Official Nominator for The Earthshot Prize. This followed a visit from the Prince and Princess of Wales, then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in 2021. The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious global environment prize in history, aiming to find new solutions to the world’s biggest environmental problems. As an Official Nominator, we have launched an open call seeking innovations that will help repair and regenerate the planet. Applications deadline is 12 noon, Tuesday 17 January 2023.

2023 marks EMEC’s 20th anniversary and we will be showcasing progress made to date in developing an ocean energy sector and exploring new energy systems and energy vectors. As well as the demonstration and R&D activities mentioned above, we will be sharing lessons learnt from the ReFLEX Orkney project addressing the challenges in delivering a whole energy systems approach for smart local energy systems. And we look forward to sharing plans for the Islands Centre for New Zero, one of the key initiatives being established as part of the Islands Growth Deal aiming to establish Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides as lighthouse communities in the transition to net zero.

Looks like we have yet another busy year lined up as we work with our partners to continue pioneering a low carbon future.
 

Wishing our community, clients, project partners, suppliers, funders, and supporters from around the world a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2023!