What has caused costly delays with a MeyGen turbine in the Pentland Firth?
Concerns were raised when a north coast local noticed an underwater renewable energy turbine had "failed to launch" in the Pentland Firth.
The man, who did not wish to be named, lives in sight of the Meygen operation taking place off the north coast of Caithness and claims the turbine was sitting on board a construction support vessel called the Polar Onyx for four days without being lowered into the water.
The unnamed source thought the parent company, Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE), must be "losing big money" and said he thought the delayed operation in the Pentland Firth must be costing in the region of "£150K per day".
"They keep it pretty quiet but I'm 99 per cent sure they left yesterday with the turbine still on the boat," he said.
"I'm all for renewables, especially offshore, given how much the Caithness landscape is now blighted with turbines. However, for anyone living in view of MeyGen there is a definite degree of secrecy coming from them with regards to turbines coming in and out of the Firth."
The source added: "I'd be very interested to know the costs involved in this and how it compares to offshore wind. As taxpayers we are paying for these green technologies and it seems that the MeyGen project just isn't feasible in terms of cost nor in terms of technology."
Sean Parsons, director of external affairs for SAE, said it is "business as usual" for the pioneering scheme in the Pentland Firth. "As previously reported, a number of the turbines have been out for operation and maintenance purposes," he said.
"SAE is working to get the turbines back in the water as quickly and safely as possible. As is common with offshore work, there are operational delays, and on this occasion there was a breakdown of the vessel crane. Once this is rectified and a new time slot selected, the turbine can be deployed."
Mr Parsons said that the MeyGen deployment – along with others in Wales and England – will put the industry on track to install 11.5GW by 2050. "That is a similar level to nuclear and that is completely homegrown, predictable, renewable power without any visual impact or waste."
He went on to point out the findings of a research paper published by the Tidal Stream Industry Energiser project (TIGER) called "A review of the UK and British Channel Islands practical tidal stream energy resource".
The review provides a critical assessment of tidal stream energy and how the evidence within it "broadly supports the latest national-scale practical resource estimate" of 34 TWh/year – equivalent to 11 per cent of the UK’s current annual electricity demand. Future projections within the paper suggest that tidal stream energy will eventually be "cost competitive with technologies such as combined cycle gas turbines, biomass and anaerobic digestion" by 2050.
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