By Renewable Energy Focus staff

OpenHydro and Bord Gáis Energy have also formed a joint venture focused on the development of a utility scale tidal farm off the coast of Ireland.

Bord Gáis Energy will initially invest €1m in OpenHydro whose business is the design and manufacture of tidal power turbines for tidal streams.

Bord Gáis has also agreed to invest a further €1m on achievement of certain milestones relating to the tidal farm development.

James Ives, CEO at OpenHydro, says: “The additional funds will be used to support OpenHydro’s continued expansion in turbine production and deployment capability. We very much look forward to working with Bord Gáis Energy as a key partner in the development of our business and in delivering tidal energy to Irish homes.”

OpenHydro, together with SSE Renewables, has been awarded licence rights by The Crown Estate in the UK to develop a major 200 MW tidal farm in the Pentland Firth, off the northern coast of Scotland.