Lunar Seals £500m Korean Renewables Deal

British tidal power company Lunar Energy has signed a £500m deal with Korean energy company Korean Midland Power to create a giant 300-turbine field off South Korea's coast.

The plant, to be built in the Wando Hoenggan waterway, has been designed to provide 300MW of renewable energy by December 2015, says Lunar.

Each 1MW unit has a turbine diameter of 11.5m and a fully ballasted weight in excess of 2,500t.

Fabrication and installation of the tidal turbines will be carried out by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, with design and optimisation by Scottish-based Rotech Engineering.

Research and feasibility is scheduled to be completed by July 2008 with the installation of a 1MW pilot plant by March 2009.

By Ozge Ibrahim