By 2017 Hammerfest, part-owned by Scottish Power Renewables, intends to have up to 95 of the machines in an array in the Pentland Firth. Argyll claims to rank second to the Pentland Firth as a marine energy resource, with its many inter-island tidal bores like the Sounds of Islay and Jura, the Gulf of Corryvreckan and the Grey Dogs.

The Pentland Firth project will compete for Scotland’s £10m Saltire Prize, established by the Scottish Government to help to drive advances in marine energy development.



The Scottish Government has established Scotland as a key international focus  for technological development in the marine energy sphere. 

Hammerfest’s Stein Anderson has said that all of their competitors are here and that they intend to lead the field. The contract could kickstart a marine energy manufacturing boom in Britain as project developer ScottishPower wants hundreds more turbines to be built in the next few years, creating the prospect of thousands of jobs for Scotland.

Fife-based BiFab (Burntisland Fabrications) traditional manufacturer of equipment for the North Sea oil and gas industry, is to build ScottishPower's first full-scale working prototype device, which the company claims is the world's most advanced.

The design will be used for the 10MW tidal energy project, the largest in the UK and potentially in the world, in the Sound of Islay. ScottishPower submitted a planning application for the project in the fast-moving channel between the islands of Islay and Jura. It intends to tender contracts in two years' time for manufacture of the project's 10 1MW turbines.

ScottishPower has also recently acquired a licence from the Crown Estate to develop a 95MW project in the Pentland Firth between Orkney Islands and Caithness. Accordingly manufacturing costs, could expect to fall as techniques refine, but the contracts are likely to be worth more than £100m.

The prototype turbine, which will be built at BiFab's Arnish in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, was developed by Hammerfest Strøm, in a JV with ScottishPower, Norwegian energy group Statoil and other energy companies.

Keith Anderson, (left) director of ScottishPower Renewables, said it was delighted that Hammerfest Strøm was building the first HS1000 turbine in Scotland.

"We know that the company looked internationally to find the right levels of expertise to deliver this contract.. it is a major boost to Scotland's renewable energy industry and to the wider economy to see this technology going into construction in Stornoway.

"With our projects in Islay and the Pentland Firth also being developed, we hope [this] is just the beginning of what could be a major stream of new opportunities for the renewables and manufacturing industries in Scotland."

BiFab will use its new facility in Arnish, on Lewis, to build the 22 metre tall steel structure of the turbine, including its foundation and legs. Another Scottish company is due to win the bid to manufacture the nacelle, which supports the turbine generator and will also assemble the device weighing 1,100 tonnes. Most recently Atlantis Resources tidal energy turbine nacelle was fabricated in Newcastle.

Scottish Power plans for its Sound of Islay project to be operational in 2013. providing enough electricity for Islay's 3,500 inhabitants for 23 hours a day and exporting the balance to the mainland.

ScottishPower has contract with Diageo, the drinks group, to provide power from the project to eight distilleries and maltings on Islay, including the makers of Laphroaig and Lagavulin whiskies.