The First Minister will reveal the first marine wind turbine at a tidal farm in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth.

The MeyGen project, which is owned by Atlantis Resources, has received £23m in Scottish Government funding.

Atlantis aim to eventually have up to 269 tidal turbines in operation at the Nigg Energy Park.

The opening of the site follows a tidal energy project in Shetland becoming the first in the world to deliver electricity to the national grid.

Ahead of her visit to Nigg, Sturgeon urged the UK Government to end “uncertainty” over the future funding of marine energy in the country.

She said: “I am incredibly proud of Scotland’s role in leading the way in tackling climate change and investment in marine renewables is a hugely important part of this.

“MeyGen is set to invigorate the marine renewables industry in Scotland and provide vital jobs for a skilled workforce, retaining valuable offshore expertise here in Scotland that would otherwise be lost overseas.

“Highly skilled operation and maintenance jobs will also need to be carried out locally, providing strong local employment opportunity for rural areas.

“There is no doubt that the eyes of the world are on this project which is why the Scottish Government’s investment is so crucially important.

Sturgeon added: “But it is absolutely vital that the UK Government honours its earlier commitment to provide a ring-fenced allocation for marine energy in its renewables support scheme.

“They must tackle the current uncertainty that exists before they cause irreparable damage to the long term prospects for the sector.”

Atlantis chief executive Tim Cornelius said the tidal energy sector is creating jobs in the country.

He said: “This is the day the tidal power industry announced itself as the most exciting new asset class of renewable, sustainable generation in the UK’s future energy mix.

“This is an industry that is creating jobs and Scotland is the undisputed world leader of this high growth sector.”

The Scottish Government has set a target of having 100% of the country’s electricity needs met through renewable energy.

Source: stv.tv