A Scots energy company has achieved a ‘world first’ by generating 50GWH of electricity from tidal power.

SAE Renewables said the achievement took place at its tidal stream array off the coast of the Pentland Firth during the early hours of Monday.

The Edinburgh-based firm’s MeyGen site, located just 2km from Scotland’s north-east tip, has been operational since 2017, with its longest-deployed turbine in operation since December 2018. 

The turbines are located 20m below the water at the 3.5km site, which covers some of the fastest flowing waters in the UK.

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Graham Reid, CEO SAE Renewables, described the news as a “significant milestone in delivering tidal stream power at scale”. 

He said: “We are immensely proud of what we have achieved, supported by our committed and loyal stakeholders in the Scottish Government.

"These figures might not seem big compared to technologies that have been state-funded for decades, but when they are compared to what they produced at the same stage of their development phase, we are already producing more value for the UK economy, more electricity, and a better price for consumers.

"Tidal can and does work, we just need to get more turbines in the water.”

To put the 50GWH of electricity achievement into perspective, Mr Reid added that the total global generation from all other tidal devices and sites is less than 50% of that amount.