Martin Wright News

Marine Current Turbines, the UK tidal energy technology company, has won EnergyOcean International’s 2011 Technology Pioneer Award for successfully demonstrating and running their commercial-scale SeaGen tidal technology. The award will be received by Martin Wright, Chief Executive of Marine Current Turbines (MCT), at the EnergyOcean International 2011 Conference in Portland, Maine, USA next month (June 15th). The 1.2MW SeaGen, located in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough, is the only tidal current turbine anywhere in the world to feed power regularly into a local electricity grid on a commercial basis. It has been operating since 2008 and has the capacity to generate electricity for the equivalent of 1500 homes.

An application from Marine Current Turbines, the UK tidal energy developer, to secure money from the European Union’s New Entrant Reserve (NER) scheme has been approved by the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change. Marine Current Turbines’ application for its proposed tidal farm in Scotland’s Kyle Rhea will now go forward for consideration by the European Investment Bank. The EU’s NER scheme is a fund worth around EUR4.5 billion to support carbon capture and storage and innovative renewable projects, such as the Kyle Rhea tidal scheme, across the European Union. Marine Current Turbines (MCT) is one of four marine energy companies that have passed the UK Government’s criteria for the NER scheme.

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales has visited Marine Current Turbines’ SeaGen, a marine current and tidal stream technology that is deployed in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough and generating power into the local grid on a daily basis. On May 13, HRH was greeted by Mr David Lindsay the Lord-Lieutenant for County Down and went on to meet Mrs Arlene Foster MLA Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Martin Wright Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines (MCT), and Professor Peter Gregson DL President and Vice-Chancellor Queen’s University Belfast.