Tidal power firm Atlantis' first AR1500 tidal stream turbine deployed at its MeyGen project site in the Pentland Firth, Scotland, has successfully exported power to the grid and has operated at full power.
The AR1500 system was developed by the Turbine and Engineering Services division within Atlantis and the nacelle was designed under contract by Lockheed Martin Corporation. The AR1500 is one of the most technologically advanced tidal turbines ever deployed on a commercial scale marine power project.
In November 2016, Atlantis announced that first power had been delivered to the grid from the first of the three Andritz Hydro Hammerfest tidal stream turbines, also deployed at the site. All four of the turbines in Phase 1A have now been installed and connected to the grid onshore at a control building at Ness of Quoys in Caithness.
The Atlantis AR1500 tidal stream turbine was successfully deployed in less than 60 minutes following earlier connection of its proprietary wet mate connection management system, which allows for rapid deployment and retrieval of the tidal stream turbine.
Construction for the next 6MW phase of the MeyGen project is due to commence later this year.