Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine is billed as the world’s largest at 2 MW rated output. The first O2 unit has been generating electricity for the Orkney Islands in Scotland for some time, and has been providing electric power for hydrogen production on the island of Eday. (Read more here.) Orbital is now developing the next generation O2-X unit, with 2.4 MW rated output.

Significantly, the O2-X was awarded an International Electrotechnical Commission for Renewable Energy (IECRE) Feasibility Statement indicating that the O2-X meets required international standards. This is the first step on the IECRE certification pathway, which ultimately leads to Type Certificate issuance for the commercial product.

Orbital has a great set of animations of the O2-X turbine on their website, complemented by YouTube videos. This is definitely worth a look! To view, click the link below, and then go to the circle with 3 lines in the upper right to select animations of sub-elements of the turbine; many of these include a YouTube video.

Link to Orbital Marine Power website

by David Hoyle

A Tide Mill Institute email subscriber recently asked TMI why historical tide mill sites are not being used to generate electricity. It’s a fair question: for an 8-foot tidal range, each acre of a tidal basin could power one typical household. The simple answer: the multiple hurdles to be overcome to implement tidal power generation seem to outweigh the benefits. In other words, there does not seem to be a need for tidal power compelling enough to motivate an individual, community, or developer to overcome those hurdles.

First, let’s remember that a historical tide mill required a dam to impound water at high tide and used the difference in head between the tidal basin and the sea to generate mechanical power. Producing electricity in this way is called tidal range generation. (Generating electricity by placing a tidal turbine in tidal currents, without a dam, is called tidal stream generation. While tidal stream generation was not common historically, it has become the de facto standard for new tidal electricity generation projects today.)

Obstacles for Tidal Range Power Generation

In cases where a historical tide mill dam has been transformed into or replaced by a causeway with culverts to permit limited water exchange, the former tidal basin has typically become a lake with little tidal amplitude. Property owners surrounding the lake would be understandably reluctant to support a power generation project that would transform their stable lake back into its original, tidal state, filling and emptying twice a day.

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