Rolls-Royce subsidiary TGL achieved a significant milestone in the deployment of tidal energy technology in October when its prototype tidal turbine supplied its 100th MWh to the grid. Tidal Generation Ltd is currently operating a 500 kWe tidal energy concept demonstrator unit at The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) offshore test site in the Orkneys, northern Scotland. This has been generating since September 2010 and providing power to the grid. The prototype tidal turbine is part of the Deep-Gen III project, co-funded by the British government-backed Technology Strategy Board. It is the first EMEC located project to receive Renewable Obligation Certificates and the first to reach 100 MWh of supply to the grid. TGL is also developing its next generation 1MWe tidal stream turbine, in a project partnership with the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). This project aims to collect and publish significant data in order to further the tidal energy industry as a whole. The expected detailed environmental and performance information has never before been achieved at this scale in real sea conditions. Rolls-Royce is also working with a number of developers in advancing demonstration arrays, systematic arrangements of turbines, which will lead to large scale commercial deployment.
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