News
Marine renewables sites to be revealed
Robert Leslie 16/03/2010 10:44:00
THE scale of potential marine renewables developments in Orkney waters,
including the Pentland Firth, will become clear later today, Tuesday,
as the Crown Estate announces the successful bidders for seabed leases
for wave and tidal devices.
The announcement is due to be made at the Pickaquoy Centre at noon. It
is understood by Orkney Today that a high proportion - as much as 80% -
of the seabed leases due to be announced will be in Orkney waters.
Although the Crown Estate's stated target is to deliver 700 megawatts
(MW) of electricity from the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters by 2020 -
enough to provide power for more than 500,000 homes - there is
speculation that Orkney will have to be ready for as much as 1 gigawatt
(GW) of marine renewables generating capacity to be installed around
the islands.
It has been estimated that 1100-1200 devices would be needed to generate this amount of electricity.