In October 2010, the newly named "MeyGen" tidal project from the nearby
Castle of Mey and "Gen" for generation was created by a consortium of
Atlantis Resources Limited and
Morgan Stanley and received an operational lease from the
Crown Estate to accommodate a 400MW project for 25years. In 2011 Norwegian partners
Statkraft pulled out of the project. A consent was granted in 2013, under Section 36 of the
Electricity Act, to construct up to 61 two- or three-bladed turbines with a total installed capacity of 86 MW. This was subject to construction in a phased manner so that potential environmental impacts could be understood. Each turbine was limited to 16–20 m in rotor diameter, rated at 1.0–2.4 MW, and connected to the grid by 6.6 kV cables.
Marine Scotland granted the project a license in January 2014. This initially only lasted until the end of 2020, but was extended in July 2016 to cover the period until 1 January 2041 or 25 years after completion of phase 1a. Construction work on the project started in January 2015, building an access road towards the sea where the onshore power conversion building would be located. In November 2016, the first turbine (TTG1) was installed, and in December it was announced that it had begun full power operations. TTG1, 2 and 3 were supplied by
Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, and were joined by one further AR1500 turbine developed by Atlantis Resources with design support from
Lockheed Martin. All four turbines were installed by February 2017, with the marine works undertaken by James Fisher Marine Services (previously Mojo Maritime). Phase 1 (formerly called Phase 1a) began operations in April 2018. Phase 1 is still in operation, with one
Andritz Hydro Hammerfest machine having been continuously subsea and in operation since 2018. Some elements of the project were constructed outside the licensed area; however, after statutory consultation, Marine Scotland varied the license in September 2017 to extend the consented site area. It was considered there were no additional impacts and that asking for full removal may have had adverse impacts. Phase 1b was then revised to installing four turbines, bringing the total to eight. This required the Section 36 consent to be varied, to allow the additional two turbines above the six permitted in Phase 1. However, this phase did not proceed. which will be used to support the construction of Phase 2 which was due to be commissioned in 2027. Four further contracts totalling 21.94 MW were awarded in the CfD AR5 auction in September 2023. An application was then submitted to vary the license conditions, to permit a smaller number of larger turbines to be used. These would be up to 24 m in diameter. The application would also remove the limit on the rated power per turbine, and increase the maximum voltage of the underwater cables to 33 kV. Phase 2 is planned to consist of a further 10 turbines. The site has the potential for a further 312 MW to be deployed beyond that, subject to expanding the consent. This would amount to 398 MW in total. By 2018 the four turbines had produced 8 GWh. In 2019, they produced 13.8 GWh. Total cumulative production was 51 GWh by March 2023. this was 80 GWh. The project received £1.5million Scottish Government grant from the
Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund in 2020, to develop a sub-sea hub to connect multiple turbines. In July 2025, one of the turbines clocked up years of operation without unplanned or disruptive maintenance, demonstrating that it is possible to operate tidal turbines in the harsh subsea conditions for long periods. The MeyGen operations and maintenance manager expects it will remain operational for a further year before being removed from the sea for repairs. The seals and bearings of the turbine were supplied by
SKF. == Project description ==