Atlantis Resources Corporation is planning to test the biggest tidal turbine in the world next year, off the Orkney Islands, as part of preparations for Scotland's plan to harness ocean energy to power 500,000 homes by 2020.

The company is investing some GBP 15 million into building the test turbine, which will have rotors with a diameter of 18 meters. The AK-1000 turbine, with rated capacity of 1 MW, will be deployed at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC), which is based in Orkney. It is a horizontal axis machine, with twin-rotors and fixed pitch blades (no pitch regulation, usually done when energy potential is stable and constant). The machine is more effective when water speeds are greater than 2.6 m/s.

Atlantis has been working with Statoil on winning the bid for the Pentland Firth marine energy project, which will be the first industrial scale wave and tidal energy facility in the world. It is intended to have at least 700 MW of installed capacity by 2020. The Crown Estate is expected to sign the release agreements for this estate by April.

According to Atlantis Resources, there are over a hundred companies doing research and developing marine energy devices, but only a few have actually installed devices at sea. Last year, Marine Current Turbines installed the first commercial scale turbine, the SeaGen, with 1.2 MW of capacity, in Northern Ireland.

Once installed, the Atlantis turbine will be the third such device installed in Great Britain.

[source: Atlantis Resources Corporation]