Turning the tide at the European Marine Energy Centre

The European Marine Energy Centre is based in a converted school perched above the harbour of Stromness, a small town on the west coast of the Orkney island of Mainland. It’s a quiet spot in a sleepy town, which belies the awe-inspiring natural resources it is working to exploit.

‘We’ve got both waves and tides here, so we can look at both technologies at the same time; or at least from the same office,’ said Neil Kermode, managing director of EMEC. ‘Waves and tides’, however, is an understatement. There are good reasons for EMEC being sited in Orkney, chief among them that the waves and tides are some of the most powerful in the world.

It seems fitting that Orkney will be one of the first places to benefit from marine energy, as traditionally the Orcadians have been pragmatic and willing to try new ideas. ‘Wealth has come out of the sea in Orkney for many generations,’ said Kermode. ‘It has been massive in terms of trade; there were huge herring fleets based here; the British fleet anchored at Scapa Flow in both world wars. I think Orcadians who’ve been through university have thought, “here’s a landscape that’s entirely sculpted by energy — the wind, the waves and the tide have shaped the landscape. Why not get the energy from the sea?”’