SKF has announced a significant breakthrough in renewable ocean energy, setting a new world record for tidal turbine performance and reliability. Its advanced systems have operated continuously for over six years at the 1.5 MW MeyGen pilot array without requiring unplanned or disruptive maintenance, marking a pivotal moment for a technology gaining global governmental interest. This achievement redefines the capability of ocean energy systems, supporting a planned minimum 59 MW addition to the current 6 MW MeyGen array, with further scaling anticipated through 2025 and beyond, contingent on investment and innovation.

Thomas Fröst, President of Independent and Emerging Business at SKF, emphasized the strategic importance of this development. “Tidal stream power offers a significant opportunity for the world to diversify its energy mix whilst reducing its carbon footprint, a key target for governments around the world,” Fröst stated. He highlighted the technology’s viability and trustworthiness due to abundant resources and predictable tidal flows, underscoring SKF’s pride in supporting this critical sector.

Tidal energy stands out as one of the planet's most predictable renewable resources, offering a crucial complement to variable solar and wind power. Despite the inherent challenges of maintaining reliability in harsh ocean environments, SKF's validated performance sets a new standard for dependable, long-term energy generation. This sector is projected to contribute up to £17 billion and 15,000 jobs to the UK economy alone by 2050. The announcement aligns with increasing global support and investment in tidal stream technologies, targeting 1 GW of deployed tidal stream energy in the UK by 2035, sufficient to power approximately 829,000 homes.

With declining costs, tidal stream energy is expected to achieve cost-competitiveness with nuclear energy by 2035. The global Tidal Energy Market, valued at $1.3 billion in 2023, is poised for substantial growth, projected to reach approximately $8.1 billion within the next seven years, according to Introspective Market Research.

A primary challenge for the tidal stream energy sector has been designing turbines capable of reliable, extended underwater operation. The successful validation of a condition-based maintenance strategy, ideally allowing over six years between overhauls, has been demonstrated by the MeyGen pathfinder array. Commissioned in 2017, this array has operated continuously since 2018, proving the long-term reliability essential for commercial-scale tidal stream projects.

SKF has supported the specification, development, and supply of critical bearings and seals for the turbines' major mechanisms for over a decade. This includes components for the main rotor bearings, the yaw mechanism that aligns the turbine with the tidal stream, and the pitch system controlling blade angles. Drew Blaxland, CEO of Proteus Marine Renewables, acknowledged SKF’s integral role: “We need suppliers that understand the demands of the subsea environment, where the consequences of key component failure are impactful. SKF has played a significant role in Proteus’ ongoing refinement and risk reduction efforts, and the input goes well beyond the supply of individual components.”

Looking ahead, SKF intends to supply fully integrated 3 MW power trains to Proteus, offering a holistic, plug-and-play solution to streamline their supply chain. Fraser Johnson, O&M Manager for the MeyGen tidal array, affirmed the project's pioneering role: “MeyGen has been at the forefront of the tidal energy sector, pioneering the blueprint for utility-scale tidal stream arrays. The successful operation and performance of our existing turbines have proven the reliability of this technology and its potential as a predictable source of renewable energy. We are excited to collaborate with Proteus Marine Renewables with the support of SKF as we progress from a pilot project to full commercial deployment.”