Texo Group has been awarded a multi-million-pound contract to construct the world’s most powerful commercial tidal turbine at its quayside facilities in Dundee, with up to 100 new jobs expected to be created.

The contract has been placed by Orbital Marine Power Ltd — a leading developer of floating tidal-stream turbines — and marks the start of the construction of its new O2 tidal turbine, which will be capable of generating over 2MW and will begin operating in 2020 as part of a long-term project at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.


Orbital CEO Andrew Scott said: “This is a flagship engineering project for the emerging tidal sector, and we are delighted to be working with Texo Group to showcase the very capable supply chain we are fortunate to have around us in Scotland and the wider UK.

The results that we achieved with our SR2000 turbine over the past two years are a convincing validation of our low-cost approach to generating clean predictable power from tidal-stream energy.”

Texo Group managing director Robert Dalziel said (www.texo.co.uk): ”We are proud to be awarded this prestigious contract.

”The O2 is a pioneering project that will transform the future of tidal energy on a global scale and will be a showcase for the very best in Scottish engineering.

”Our team has a wealth of experience in marine engineering; this project enables us to showcase our vast capabilities for the offshore renewables sector.”

The O2 project has been financed in a number of ways, including through the EU Horizon 2020 programme and a £7 million Crowdfunding bond that Orbital raised at the start of the year — one of the largest peer-to-peer debentures in UK history.

Mr Scott said: “We are really pleased to have such strong endorsement from the wider UK public of our vision for tidal energy, which bridges both industrial and low carbon opportunities.”