The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Orkney this week in pursuit of solutions for tackling climate change and supporting the UK’s green economic recovery. Their Royal Highnesses visited the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) tidal test facility, and met with EMEC’s managing director, Neil Kermode, to hear about the test centre’s role in developing an ocean energy industry and with pioneering green hydrogen deployments including the FCH JU supported BIG HIT project.
The royal couple visited Kirkwall harbour to see EMEC’s hydrogen fuel cell, supplied by SHFCA member Proton Motor of Germany, which is designed to provide up to 75kW of clean power to vessels berthed at Kirkwall Pier. This fuel cell using green hydrogen allows ship engines to be switched off when in harbour, reducing noise and air pollution as well as achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Kirkwall Harbour to see Fuel Cell & H2 Storage (credit Colin Keldie)
The royal couple then viewed the hydrogen tube trailers at Kirkwall Pier, which are manufactured by SHFCA member Calvera based in Zaragoza, Spain. These tube trailers are used to transport green hydrogen by ferry from the outlying islands of Eday and Shapinsay to Kirkwall harbour, where it is used for the Proton Motor hydrogen fuel cell at Kirkwall Pier.
The royal couple were introduced to several members of EMEC’s operations team. John Skuse, Jerry Gibson and Dave Wakefield shared stories of their progression from careers in hospital building and engineering, marine engineering and aviation to careers in ocean energy at EMEC, as well as providing an overview of the green hydrogen initiatives taking place in Orkney.
Neil Kermode, Managing Director of EMEC said: “It was a pleasure meeting the Duke and Duchess and introducing them to Orkney’s living laboratory for sustainability and renewable energy. Orkney is a beacon for the world, demonstrating technologies and solutions that will support decarbonisation and a cleaner, greener future. From wind, tidal and wave power to green hydrogen for clean carbon-free fuel, we were able to show Their Royal Highnesses sustainable solutions that will help tackle climate change and support green economic recovery, and introduce them to some of the people working in the sector locally. The activities taking place here at EMEC have attracted passionate people to stay in and move to Orkney to build their careers; the epitome of just transition in action.”
Heading out to sea, courtesy of the Royal Navy, the tour included an excursion to Orbital Marine Power’s O2, the world’s most powerful tidal turbine. This is anchored in the Fall of Warness at the EMEC tidal test site off the island of Eday, where tidal speeds can exceed 3m/s. The O2 will be connected to the local electricity grid and will help power the communities of Orkney cleanly and sustainably from the waters that flow past their islands.
Excess power generated by Orbital’s 2MW tidal turbine will be used to power a 0.5MW electrolyser built by SHFCA member Elogen (formerly ArevaH2Gen) for the €11.8m INTERREG funded ITEG project. ITEG will tackle grid export limitations faced in remote communities using a smart onshore energy management system on Eday which will enable EMEC to determine whether the tidal power generated at the EMEC’s Fall of Warness test site is fed into the grid or into the electrolyser to produce hydrogen.