Marine Scotland Rejects Tidal Array Application from GlaxoSmithKline

Marine Scotland has rejected a license application for a project comprising 15 tidal turbines at the Montrose Basin in Scotland, for which a License Application and Environmental Statement were submitted by a pharmaceutical and healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in March last year.

The authority has explained its refusal in a letter to GSK, saying: “Marine Scotland Licence Operations Team (MSLOT) have reviewed the information submitted by GSK and concluded that given the sensitive nature of the location, affecting 3 Natura Sites, a marine licence should not be issued.

“The decision is based upon the high sensitivity of the site; the poor state of some of the qualifying species; and the difficulty in quantifying the likely significant effects.”

The tidal array would have been installed in 2 phases with a total capacity of up to 0.7MW.  Tidal turbines with gravity foundations were proposed to be placed on either side of the road bridge at Montrose. They would have transmitted power to the shore where they would be connected to a shore station, transmitting electricity to the GSK Montrose plant.

However, GSK is looking to find an alternative more suitable to the site and is now working with Marine Scotland on another proposal which uses bladeless turbines, which were tested and proven at the EMEC (European Marine Energy Centre), Montrose Review news site informs.

 “The company intends to submit to Marine Scotland an application for a generation licence to deploy and monitor a single turbine in the river close to Montrose bridge. Should Marine Scotland grant the application and the trial proves successful, GSK would seek permission to install a further five turbines,” the news site quotes GSK’s spokesman as saying.

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Offshore WIND Staff, May 9, 2013; Image: swanturbines