Orbital to build tidal turbines for CfD-backed projects in Nigg

Orbital Marine Power, the Scottish developer of floating tidal stream turbine technology, is poised to build the turbines for its initial Orkney projects which are backed by the UK government’s contracts for difference (CfDs) at Scotland's Port of Nigg.

The company on Wednesday said it has picked Global Energy Group as preferred supplier to lead the manufacture and assembly of turbines for the projects which won support in the UK government’s fourth and fifth CfD allocation rounds. Orbital Marine Power secured CfDs for 7.2 MW in each of the two rounds.

The projects will build on Orbital’s 2-MW O2 tidal turbine, which was launched off the Orkney coast in 2021.

Turbine production at Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg facility on the Cromarty Firth is expected to start later in 2024, while the Orkney projects are slated to deliver first power in 2026.

“Orbital is committed to ensuring tidal stream energy can make a complementary and material contribution to the UK’s decarbonising ambitions while also supporting a just transition by creating a new industrial sector led from the UK and our home in Scotland,” said Orbital Marine Power CEO Andrew Scott.

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