By Rebecca Shearer
Councillors in Argyll and Bute have given the go-ahead for a 10mw demonstration tidal array project to be built in the Sound of Islay.
The proposal was initially considered and granted approval in 2010 to be built on the Isle of Jura. However, due to change in land ownership, the project developers had to find a new site and resubmit the application.
It is expected that building of the developmental tidal energy project will be completed by April 2017 and will supply the applicants with the experience of operating devices that could then be developed in other, less protected areas off the Scottish coast.
According to the application, the proposed model is ‘a fully submerged bottom mounted horizontal axis 3 bladed device, mounted on a gravity ballast tripod support structure’.
Ten turbines will be built either in pairs or groups of three off the east coast of Islay, where it will stretch to the south of Port Askaig.
It is anticipated that the life of the project will be increased from the initial 14 years to 25 years.
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy