Atlantis Resources Ltd (www.atlantisresourcesltd.com), which is behind the £50 million MeyGen project to build the world’s largest tidal-stream energy facility off the coast of Caithness, has announced that US defence giant Lockheed Martin will build the first turbine.

It said that the turbine, with a rotor diameter of 18m, will be one of the largest-capacity single-rotor turbines ever built. It is scheduled to arrive in Scotland for installation in 2016.

Atlantis eventually plans to have up to 269 turbines on the sea-bed in the Pentland Firth between Caithness and Orkney. Last year, the company secured more than £50 million in funding for the first phase of the MeyGen project, including backing from the Scottish Executive, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Government and the Crown Estate.

Tim Cornelius, chief executive of Atlantis, added: “Lockheed Martin has been a strong partner and supporter of Atlantis for a number of years. We look forward to continuing to work alongside this global technology giant on the
delivery of turbine systems for the MeyGen project.”

Mr Cornelius also said that contractors have recently started drilling operations at the MeyGen construction site, to create the bores for the cables that will link the onshore site at Ness of Quoys with the four sub-sea turbines. Each of the four bores will be around 550m long, and the drilling is expected to take four months.