The UK’s burgeoning marine energy sector has been given a "major boost" with the announcement that The Crown Estate has agreed terms for the SeaGen demonstration tidal stream energy project at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.

The flagship SeaGen project, developed by Bristol’s Marine Current Turbines (MCT), will be the first commercial scale, tidal stream system operating anywhere in the world. When fully commissioned, the 1.2MW SeaGen will provide reliable and renewable electricity for up to 1,000 local homes.

SeaGen has permission to operate for a period of five years from Northern Ireland’s Environment & Heritage Service and has the agreement of The Crown Estate who own the UK seabed.

Ian Pritchard, head of offshore estates at The Crown Estate, said: “We are delighted to announce the completion of a lease agreement with SeaGen at Strangford Lough.

"The Crown Estate fully supports the marine renewable energy industry and recognises its potential to deliver clean energy to our homes. This demonstration project is an important part of the testing and evaluation process for this emerging technology.

“In addition to this site in Northern Ireland, The Crown Estate is supporting the marine renewable industry through the grant of a non-commercial lease for the wave and tidal test sites operated by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney and are in discussion with Wave Hub concerning similar proposed wave test facilities off the north coast of Cornwall.”

SeaGen have been granted a five year lease with non commercial terms in order to help them develop the turbine and project.

MCT’s managing director Martin Wright said: “MCT is committed to developing tidal energy in UK waters and SeaGen’s deployment is a significant milestone for us as well as the marine energy sector as a whole.

"The Crown Estate is very supportive of what we are trying to achieve and the lease agreement we established with them will greatly benefit the future development of the marine energy industry. It will be a framework for other tidal as well as wave energy projects that will be developed in UK waters over the next few years.”

SeaGen is set to be installed later this month. The exercise, which will take up to 14 days and is subject to local weather conditions and final engineering work, was scheduled to start on Monday, when the Rambiz barge sails with SeaGen loaded on board from Belfast’s Harland & Wolff shipyard to Strangford Lough for installation.

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