MeyGen, today almost welcomed the Scottish Energy
Minister, Fergus Ewing, to its site in Caithness. The minister was unable
to make it to the site this afternoon due to 'travel disruptions'.
Atlantis will now re-schedule The minister's visit.
The minister’s visit would of coincided with a series of successful milestones
completed by MeyGen, demonstrating that progress on the project is well
underway and on schedule for delivery.
In particular, the visit would of marked the completion of Horizontal Directional
Drilling (HDD) of bore holes from the foreshore into the inner sound and
down to the seabed, with successful subsea exits on all four bore holes.
Each hole is 550 meters in length and will house power cables which will
connect the subsea turbines to the onshore Power Conversion Centre.
Works on the onshore facilities have also taken a step forward with construction
on the Power Conversion Centre starting this week. The Power Conversion
Centre will take the power generated by the subsea turbines and feed it
into the electricity grid.
Meanwhile, grid connection cable burial works along the 12 mile route from
Hastigrow have also commenced.
Still upholding his comments, Fergus Ewing was going to say: “This
is an exciting, first-of-a-kind project. The eyes of the global marine
industry are on this project. I am heartened to see the involvement of
home-grown companies including John Gunn & Sons Ltd and Leask Marine,
and I very much hope there will be further opportunities for the Scottish
supply chain. When fully operational this tidal stream array could generate
enough electricity to power the equivalent of 175,000 homes."
Although the minister was unable to attend
the site, he stood by his quote regarding the project.
MeyGen was one of the first tidal projects in the world to secure the necessary
planning consent, lease agreement, grid connection and power purchase agreement
in order to begin onshore and offshore construction. Atlantis Resources,
the leading tidal project developer, is the majority owner of MeyGen.
The ground-breaking event at Ness of Quoys
near Wick was attended by Ian Funnell, ABB’s UK Managing Director as well
as MeyGen’s CEO Dan Pearson and representatives from Highlands and Islands
Enterprise.
Ian Funnell said: “ABB’s participation in the MeyGen project
positions us at the forefront of the emerging tidal energy sector. During
the project, ABB will contribute its knowledge and experience of delivering
grid connections in remote environments for the renewable energy sector.”
Dan Pearson, CEO of MeyGen, said: “The MeyGen project represents the
best of what Scotland has to offer when it comes to the energy infrastructure
development: an integrated supply chain, state of the art manufacturing
facilities, and world class engineering skills. We are truly honoured to
host the Minister and thank him for his continued support on this pioneering
project."
Commenting from ABB Power Systems’ facility
in Stone, Staffordshire, Stephen Trotter, Managing Director for ABB Power
Systems in the UK said: “ABB is proud to contribute to the MeyGen
project and to help develop Scotland’s leadership in tidal energy. Not
only are we are coordinating from our Scottish engineering office in East
Kilbride but we have also appointed local contractors wherever possible
to support the Scottish supply chain.”
ABB is delivering the grid connection for the first 6 megawatt (MW) demonstration
phase, which will include four submerged turbines in the Inner Pentland
Firth, with first power expected to be delivered in 2016.
ABB is responsible for the onshore power conversion and grid connection
systems that will feed the electricity safely and reliably into the local
distribution grid. During the project, ABB will design, engineer, supply
and commission the power conversion equipment, switchgear and transformer
as well as deliver associated civil engineering and cabling to connect
MeyGen with the grid.
To boost the Scottish supply chain ABB has engaged local contractors and
suppliers to deliver its part of the project, including civil engineering
contractor John Gunn & Sons Ltd, HRI architects and marine contractor
Leask Marine.
During the project ABB must take measures to protect the environment in
and around the site and to minimise the impact on its neighbours. The Power
Conversion Centre building has been designed to blend into the surrounding
countryside and will feature water, waste and cooling systems that minimise
its environmental impact.
The initial phase of MeyGen has the potential to generate up to 86 MW of
electricity, enough power for around 42,000 homes, potentially catering
to the needs of almost 40 percent of households in the Highlands. Within
a decade, MeyGen intends to deploy up to 398 MW of offshore tidal stream
turbines in the Pentland Firth to supply clean and renewable electricity
for 175,000 homes.