Atlantis Resources Corporation (ARC) announced the unveiling of its latest tidal current turbine, the AK1000, last Wednesday. The new turbine has been fully assembled and displayed at Invergordon, Scotland. It is now ready to be installed at the test site later this summer, at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland. The company announced its intention to test this model last December, as we reported here.

The AK1000 has 1 MW of power generating capacity, making it the largest tidal current turbine built so far, according to ARC. The machine is capable of outputting 1 MW of power at water velocity of 2.65 m/s, which is enough to supply about 1000 average homes with clean electricity. It weighs 1300 tons, and has an 18 meter rotor diameter, standing at 22.5 meters in total height. The unit actually has two rotors attached on opposite sides of the shaft.

The AK1000 is the result of a combined effort of several contractors, including Soil Marine Dynamics (nacelle), Isleburn Engineering (gravity base structure and system and assembly), and Corus, which supplied the steel for the turbines.

[source: Atlantis Resources Corporation]