Engineering from the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh have claimed that a stretch of water off the north coast could provide enough energy to power almost half of Scotland.

Their research looked at how much tidal power could be generated by turbines located in the Pentland Firth, between mainland Scotland and Orkney. They said some 1.9GW could be available.

The detailed assessment by the engineers also provides an insight into how to develop and regulate the clean energy resource effectively.

The Pentland Firth is viewed as a key candidate to house marine power projects because of its tidal currents, which are among the fastest in the British Isles. Those behind the study said it is an improvement on previous estimates of the generating capacity of turbines embedded in the Firth - ranging from 1GW to 18GW - which were too simplistic or based on inappropriate models. They added that as much as 4.2GW could be captured, but because tidal turbines are not 100% efficient, 1.9GW is a more realistic target.

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However, in order to make full use of the Firth's potential, turbines would need to be located across the entire width of the channel. The impact on sea life and the shipping trade would need to be minimal, and as such, a number of individual sites have been identified for development by the UK Crown Estate, which will lease these sites to tidal energy firms.

Professor Alistair Borthwick from the School of Engineering, Edinburgh University, said: "Our research builds on earlier studies by analysing the interactions between turbines and the tides more closely.

"This is a more accurate approach than was used in the early days of tidal stream power assessment, and should be useful in calculating how much power might realistically be recoverable from the Pentland Firth."

Professor Guy Houlsby, of the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford University, who led the study, added: "The UK enjoys potentially some of the best tidal resources worldwide, and if we exploit them wisely they could make an important contribution to our energy supply.

"These studies should move us closer towards the successful exploitation of the tides."

The research was commissioned and funded as part of the Energy Technologies Institute's Performance Assessment of Wave and Tidal Array Systems project (PerAWAT).

(JP/CD)