Orbital O2, the world’s most powerful tidal-powered turbine, has started to generate electricity via the grid in Orkney. It could meet the annual electricity demand of 2,000 homes for the next 15 years. The 680-ton turbine is now anchored in the Fall of Warness where a subsea cable connects the 2MW offshore unit to the local onshore electricity network. The turbine’s superstructure floats on the water’s surface, with rotors attached to its legs which extract energy from the passing tidal flow. It’s held on station by a four-point mooring system with each mooring chain having the strength to lift over 50 double decker buses. Electricity is transferred from the turbine via a dynamic cable to the seabed and then through a static cable to the onshore electricity network.
www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-57991351