According to the BBC, a tidal energy project in northern Scotland recently set a world record for monthly tidal power generation. In August 2017, two installed turbines of the MeyGen project in Pentland Firth generated 700 megawatt hours of electricity, enough to power about 2,000 homes.

MeyGen is in the early stages of construction, but turbine supplier Atlantis Resources Ltd. hopes to eventually include 269 turbines and generate 398 megawatts, making it the world’s largest tidal energy plant. The project completed what it calls Phase 1A — the installation of four 1.5-megawatt turbines on gravity turbine supports — in February 2017. Phase 1B involves another four turbines installed on novel support structures intended to showcase technological advancements that may significantly reduce tidal generation’s levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Finally, Phase 1C would see the installation of 49 additional turbines.

Looking across the Pentland Firth toward Stroma, showing the fast tides conducive to tidal power. Source: Bruce Stokes / CC BY-SA 2.0

According to Atlantis Resources, the narrow body of water just off Scotland’s northern coast contains some of the U.K.’s fastest flowing water. The uninhabited island of Stroma, which forms the northern border of the firth, creates a natural channel that accelerates water flow between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. A 2013 study found that Pentland Firth currents can flow up to 5 meters (16.4 feet) per second.

Tidal energy development is in its infancy worldwide due in part to high levelized costs, but the U.K.’s strong tidal activity makes it a hot spot for potential tidal energy. Other high-tide areas ripe for development include the waters between Japan, China and Korea, as well as off the northern coast of Australia.