Orbital Marine Power Ltd has selected North Wales-based FAUN Trackway (www.fauntrackway.co.uk) to manufacture four steel anchors for its new O2 tidal turbine.

These will be installed — along with bespoke mooring connectors — in Orkney, where Orbital has a berth and a grid connection with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).

The O2 is an optimised version of Orbital’s SR2000 turbine, which produced more than 3GWh of electricity over its initial 12-month continuous test programme at EMEC.

The anchors are being made as part of the ITEG project, which aims to address grid constraints in remote communities by combining tidal-energy generation with hydrogen production.

Orbital CEO Andrew Scott (www.orbitalmarine.com) said: “These anchors will have the important job of holding the O2 on station, so it can generate clean predictable power from the strong tides we have around Orkney. We are delighted to be engaging FAUN Trackway for this critical supply.”

Gareth Williams, FAUN Trackway’s engineering manager, said: “We are excited to get involved in this great project.

“The manufacture of the anchor structures and bespoke mooring connections will fully utilise our design for manufacture, engineering and production methodologies to provide a cost-effective solution for Orbital.

“The components will be manufactured, tested, inspected and coated to stringent DNV standards to ensure that they stand the test of time”.