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The European Commission has recently awarded almost €4m in support of tidal energy testing and demonstration off the coast of the Orkney Isles, Scotland.

Awarded under the Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) scheme, the funding is shared between the InToTidal and Ocean 2G projects.

The InToTidal project aims to demonstrate deployment solutions for tidal turbines company Tocardo and is partnered with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Leask Marine, and ocean resources research group Ifremer.

The Ocean 2G project is co-ordinated by Magallanes, who also partners with EMEC and Leask Marine, as well as ABB Automation and Power Technologies, to develop second generation Magallanes tidal technology.

Commercial director of EMEC Oliver Wagg said: “This is fantastic news for the ocean energy sector. I’m delighted that the EU is supporting full scale testing and demonstration to help progress towards a commercially viable industry.

“It’s hard to secure private investment for real sea testing of ocean energy technologies, so grant support is vital at this stage of development. Combine this with EMEC’s wave and tidal testing infrastructure, which has been designed to help minimise the cost of ‘getting metal wet’, we have a winning combination to prove technology performance and help leverage private investment into the sector.”

EMEC is an Orkney-based company that is also involved in a Memorandum of Understanding with US-based Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) for the promotion of research and knowledge exchange.