Hammerfest Strøm awards tidal turbine contracts

Fife-based Burntisland Fabrication (BiFab) has been awarded the largest single contract for the fabrication of the sub-structure for the turbine, which will be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney next year.

ScottishPower Renewables (SPR), a major shareholder in Hammerfest Strøm for the last five years, has submitted a planning application to install 10 HS1000 machines at a tidal-power array in the Sound of Islay on the west coast of Scotland.

Beyond this, SPR is developing a 95-turbine project at Ness of Duncansbay in the Pentland Firth as part of The Crown Estate’s first marine energy leasing round. The company also confirmed that it will be entering the Ness of Duncansbay project into the Scottish government’s £10m Saltire Prize for marine energy innovation.

The design of the HS1000 device is based on a 300kW prototype, which has been installed in Kvalsundet in Norway for the last six years. The prototype device was the first turbine to convert kinetic energy in tidal waters to electricity and deliver to the grid in 2004.