Orbital Marine Power (Orbital) is the technology selected by Canadian company Eauclaire Tidal for deployment at FORCE. Orbital Marine Power is a privately held company with offices in Orkney and Edinburgh.

Scottish-based Orbital already operates the world’s most powerful tidal turbine, the 2-megawatt O2. The floating device is 74 metres in length and supports two 1-MW turbines, delivering 2-MW of total nameplate output. This is enough to power about 2,000 homes and offset the emissions of roughly 1,500 cars per year.

Orbital’s floating technology has two major benefits:
1) Access for installation and maintenance is easier, which lowers the operational costs and risk.

2) Generates more electricity by capturing stronger currents – which exist closer to the surface, rather than at the seabed.

This innovative approach also offers lower manufacturing and installation costs with the majority of work being done in safer, controlled environments of shipyards and onshore factories and minimizes the amount of offshore construction work and removes offshore heavy lifts.