CULTURAL and economic links between Scotland and Bavaria have existed for decades and they continue to prosper as renewable power sources become increasingly important in our world.

Orbital Marine Power is a Scottish engineering firm focused on innovative ways of developing a tidal energy turbine to dramatically reduce the cost of energy from tidal currents.

Later this month Orbital’s O2 turbine – the world’s most powerful tidal turbine – will be loaded on to a barge from the quayside at Prince Edward Wharf in Dundee, where it is being constructed, and shipped to the waters off Orkney at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).

Among Orbital’s collaborators on the project are SKF Deutschland, the Bavarian branch of a Swedish multinational.

The Orbital O2 has a unique and futuristic design at 72 metres long with 600sqm rotors – the largest to be used on a tidal generator – and award-winning “gull wing” retractable legs to ease access to the machine’s underwater systems.

Michael Baumann, business development manager marine and ocean energy at SKF, said: “We are a technical partner to advanced tidal turbine device developers for almost a decade now and are delighted that our long-term partnership with Orbital evolves to the next major step from providing main mechanical sub-systems to fully integrated power train solutions. We see tremendous potential for floating tidal technology due to its low installation and operating costs and are keen to create value-adding solutions for our customers.”

The Orbital O2 has the capacity to generate electricity for 2000 homes and is the most powerful renewable generating unit of any kind being fabricated in the UK this year.

Orbital Marine’s CEO, Andrew Scott, said: “Commercialising our technology will create an entirely new global market for power generation equipment and services and we are delighted to be working with SKF to unlock this.”