Updated November 2024

Flex Marine Power’s Tidal Turbine – Project Update

Flex Marine Power Ltd are installing a single 50kW tidal turbine in the sound of Islay. The purpose of this page is to keep up-to-date information on the installation programme and outline the project scope.

Latest News

On the 20th of October storm Ashley arrived on Islay, resulting in aspects of the installation phase being postponed. Our installation phase now extends into 2025, see Current Programme below:

Current Programme

·       21st October - 3rd of November: Installation Preparation Phase.

·       4th - 14th November: Marine Installation Phase 1: Installing mooring, subsea power cable and onshore works.

·       15th – 20th November: Turbine Commissioning Phase.

·       Q1 2025: Marine Installation Phase 2.

·       Q1 2025: Operational Phase commences.

Project Outline

The Flex Marine Tidal Turbine will be located at: 55.819481 N, 6.095616 W. It is a single, mid water column, in-flow turbine. There will be a clearance of at least 3.5m between the sea surface and the turbine at all times. From the turbine a power cable will run along the seabed to the Islay shore for a private connection.

Installation Period

Installation is due to begin the week commencing 4th of November and will be highly weather dependent but is expected to be around 12 working days split across the neap tidal cycles.

During this time there will be work boats in the vicinity of the Turbine Area and Cable Route. Marker buoys will be put in place should there be any temporary works left in situ.  

Operational Period

During operation there will be no physical markers in place. The turbine will be marked by a virtual Aid to Navigation (AtoN). A virtual AtoN is digital information, broadcast from an Automatic Identification System (AIS) station, to display an aid to navigation that does not physically exist in the water. Virtual aids to navigation are visible on vessels’ AIS Minimum Keyboard and Display (MKD), or as a symbol on an appropriate display system. The virtual AtoN will be ‘located’ approximately 25m to the east of the turbine and will be broadcast to vessels as a virtual East Cardinal Buoy. All vessels with an AIS system will see this cardinal marker. The proposed AtoN location is approximately 130m within the red sector of the Carraig Mhor light and outwith the main shipping channel.  The turbine will also be on newly purchased nautical charts once operational.

The armoured power cable (1000V) between the shore and the turbine (as per the route above) will be laid along the seabed following the natural contours to reduce potential for movement. The cable has an earthed screen to prevent EMF release into the environment and is armoured. The cable is only 130mm in diameter and is contiguous from the turbine to the shore offering no catch points for debris or equipment.

For further information on the this tidal turbine project you can visit: https://marine.gov.scot/ml/marine-licence-turbine-installation-sound-islay-00009621