MeyGen
CountryScotland
Coordinates58°39′30″N 3°7′30″W / 58.65833°N 3.12500°W / 58.65833; -3.12500
StatusOperational
Construction began2014
Commission date2016
Owner(s)SIMEC Atlantis Energy
Thermal power station
Primary fuel
Tidal power station
Type
Type of TSG
  • Horizontal axis
Power generation
Units operational4
Nameplate capacity6 MW (4 × 1.5 MW)
Annual net output10.2 GWh (2023)

MeyGen (full name MeyGen tidal energy project) is a tidal stream energy plant in the North of Scotland,[1] which is currently being constructed in a phased manner.[2] The first phase of the project uses four 1.5 MW turbines with 16 m (52 ft) rotor diameter turbines submerged on the seabed.[3] The project is owned and run by SIMEC Atlantis Energy, although previously by Tidal Power Scotland Limited and Scottish Enterprise. Meygen was claimed to be the "world’s largest tidal stream power project".[2]

The high speed of currents in the area, reaching up to 5 m/s (11 mph), made the chosen site in the Pentland Firth well suited to this type of energy generation.[4] The project is located in the Inner Sound, between the Island of Stroma and the Scottish mainland.

In October 2010, the newly named "MeyGen" tidal project from the nearby Castle of Mey and "Gen" for generation was created by a consortium of Atlantis Resources Limited, Morgan Stanley and received operational lease from the Crown Estate to a 400 MW project for 25 years.[5] Phase 1 (formerly called Phase 1a) began operations in April 2018.[6] In July 2022, MeyGEN plc was awarded a contract for 28MW in the Contract for difference (CfD) Allocation Round 4,[7] which will be used to support the construction of Phase 2 which is now due to be commissioned in 2027. The site has consent for a further 52 MW, to be developed as Phase 3, supported by future CfD Allocation Rounds.[8] Four further contracts totaling 21.94 MW were awarded in the CfD AR5 auction in September 2023.[9] The site has the potential for a further 312 MW to be deployed beyond that, subject to expanding the consent.[8]

In December 2016 it was announced that the first turbine had begun full power operations,[10] and all four turbines were installed by February 2017. Atlantis plans for 400 MW.[11] As of 2018, the four turbines have produced 8 GWh.[12] In 2019, they produced 13.8 GWh.[13] Total production was 51 GWh by March 2023.[14]

The project received £1.5 million Scottish Government grant in 2020.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "MeyGen". SAE Renewables. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 Dickie, Mure (12 September 2016). "Scotland unveils world's largest tidal stream power project". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "World's first large-scale tidal energy farm launches in Scotland". The Guardian. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  4. ↑ Connor, Steve (10 July 2013). "Wave goodbye to hope of tidal energy exports, Scots politicians told". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Major Scottish tidal project unveiled". New Civil Engineer. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Meygen Starts 25 year operations phase".
  7. ↑ "Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 4: results". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  8. 1 2 "MeyGen". SIMEC ATLANTIS ENERGY. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 5: results". GOV.UK. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Atlantis' first MeyGen tidal turbine starts operating at full power". Power Technology. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  11. ↑ "Atlantis installs fourth and final Meygen Phase 1A turbine". 4c Offshore. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  12. ↑ Hill, Joshua S (24 June 2019). "SIMEC Atlantis partners with GE on world's largest tidal stream turbine". RenewEconomy.
  13. ↑ Frangoul, Anmar (27 January 2020). "A tidal project in Scottish waters just generated enough electricity to power nearly 4,000 homes". CNBC.
  14. ↑ "SAE Deploys Upgraded Turbine at MeyGen Tidal Power Site". Offshore Engineer Magazine. 5 July 2023.
  15. ↑ McPhee, David (25 March 2020). "Simec Atlantis Energy wins £1.5m Scot Gov grant for Meygen project". Energy Voice. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
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