Nova Innovation has reported it made significant progress with the build and deployment of the Shetland Tidal Array, as over two years of work come to fruition in the Bluemull Sound, Shetland. With all the onshore works completed in August, the focus has moved to preparation and deployment of the offshore components of the project.
Early September saw the assembly and test of the first of three Nova M100 turbines on the quayside at Belmont harbour in Shetland. The turbine was then prepared for subsea deployment, which takes place in phases to be undertaken as tidal and weather windows permit.
Subsea environmental surveys were completed prior to the deployment of the substructure in early September. Both the substructure and ballast were deployed at the planned location within the seabed lease area.
Operations then moved focus to the next available tidal and weather window. Towards the end of September, a suitable window appeared and both subsea cable and onshore connection were completed. The Nova team is now awaiting the next suitable tidal and weather window to complete deployment operations in October.