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Sustainable Marine Energy (SME) has signed a long term testing contract with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).

SME will be taking on one of the berths at the Fall of Warness tidal test site where it will deploy five PLAT-O systems in an array over the next two years. This array will host Schottel SIT turbines and should deliver almost 1MW capacity.

This move has been backed and supported by the Scottish Government with the award of nearly £1.3m from the WATERS3 programme.

To deliver this programme Dave Thomson of Orcades Marine is joining the company as Operations Manager. Dave, who is based in the new SME office in Hatston, Kirkwall, has been involved with SME for over a year, managing the marine operations for the testing of the first PLAT-O at an Isle of Wight test site.

Jason Hayman, Managing Director of SME said: “This has been the result of many months of work and I would like to thank Scottish Enterprise, EMEC and all the SME team for their hard work and support. At a time when commentators are talking the industry down, we can demonstrate that there is a new cost effective model to watch.”

Fergus Ewing, Scottish Minster for Business, Energy and Tourism said: “We welcome Sustainable Marine Energy to Scotland with its commitment to the Scottish economy. As a government we are glad to provide them with the support they need to develop their business in Scotland.”

Neil Kermode, Managing Director at EMEC added: “Sustainable Marine Energy plan to deliver the first tidal array at the Fall of Warness which will be a major milestone for EMEC. We look forward to working with them over the years to come.”

David Thomson, incoming Operations Director for SME, said: “Having worked with SME, I really believe they have a winning model and I am delighted to be joining them as Operations Director. We will be busy in Orkney for the next couple of years and after that in the wider market.”