The new blade test site and the tidal turbine drive-train test bench were built with a combined investment of £33.6m ($54.1m) from the UK government and the European Regional Development Fund.

The wind test centre has been designed to accommodate blades of up to 100-metres.

The 3MW Nautilus tidal test bench recently completed trials of Atlantis Resources’ AR1000 turbine’s drive-train.

Narec chief executive Andrew Mill says of the two: “Together with our existing capabilities they provide the most comprehensive facilities anywhere in the world to enable the scale-up of renewable energy technologies offshore.”

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