STRANGFORD LOUGH: Rushing up through Northern Ireland's Strangford Narrows at speeds of up to nine knots (16km/h), the incoming tide foams and froths around the red and black striped tower of Marine Current Turbines' (MCT) SeaGen unit.

The pioneering tidal-energy device has been churning out power from its installed site in the largest inlet in the British Isles for over a year now, just down from the high-powered car ferry between the villages of Strangford and Portaferry.

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