Renewable energy industry 'gets boost with new tidal turbine'

A tidal turbine thought to be the largest in the world has been unveiled in Scotland.

The Atlantis Resources AK-1000 device, which was launched at Invergordon earlier this week, is likely to provide a big boost to the environmental analysis of the renewable energy industry.

Standing at 22.5-metres tall and weighing 1,300 tonnes, the machine will be shipped off to a European Marine Energy Centre site off Orkney in the North Sea next year.

It is thought it will be able to generate one megawatt of power and will help the firm use ocean energy to provide power to more than half a million homes by 2020.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, Atlantis Resources' chief executive Tim Cornelius said: "In order to get a robust turbine we have had to make what we call ultimately the dumbest, simple but most robust turbine you could possibly put in such a harsh environment."

Mr Cornelius confirmed that the North Sea is the best location for the turbine and if the machine is successful at reaching its renewable energy goals, he said marine energy could eventually provide a fifth of the UK's electricity.

Posted by Joseph Hutton