A Hull-based tidal power company is forging ahead with plans to install a multi-million pound array in the Humber Estuary, which could include a local manufacturing deal to build the 15 shallow-water devices.

Neptune Renewable Energy is set to generate power from a full-scale demonstrator within the next month, after recently commissioning the project. The Neptune Proteus machine will then supply energy to The Deep aquarium located on the bank of the River Humber.

A spokeswoman for Neptune told BusinessGreen that the company will soon announce plans to build a 15-turbine array in the Humber, which would consist of three pods, each boasting five Neptune Proteus devices.

Neptune claims to be the only tidal stream energy company to have developed commercially viable technology for shallow water estuary locations. Once complete, the array would be able to supply electricity to local businesses or feed electricity into the grid, the company said.

It is also looking to set up partnerships with a local manufacturing companies to assemble the device at the new Green Port in Hull, close to the planned Siemens offshore wind turbine plant.

Neptune is hoping to secure funding for the array from the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s £20m Marine Energy Array Demonstrator scheme (MEAD) the deadline for which is 1 June. Any bidding project must hold an agreement for lease, with planning applications well under way at the time of application.

However, the spokeswoman said Neptune is analysing a number of debt and equity proposals for the first array and was therefore hoping to forge ahead with the plans regardless of its success in the MEAD funding round.

She said the demonstration device had cost “several million pounds” to develop and the array would be a multi-million pound project.

Neptune chairman Nigel Petrie said the company was now looking at a number of sites in the Humber and around the UK.

“The development of the Neptune Proteus has paved the way for the design of our production model, arrays of which will provide a dedicated supply of clean power to major industries located on the Humber estuary and other suitable British locations,” he said.

“Supplying power to our first customer, The Deep, presents us with a great opportunity to raise the profile of our technology and of the potential for tidal stream power generation to make a significant contribution to meeting both commercial and domestic electricity demands.”