An engineer involved in the trials of a pioneering tidal energy project has taken over the helm at EMEC, the Orkney-based European Marine Energy Centre.

As EMEC's managing director, Neil Kermode will oversee the development of the centre's new underwater test bed for machines that produce electricity by harnessing the power of the tides.

"We already have five developers lined up to use our seabed facilities," Mr Kermode said. "Our role is to test this cutting edge technology in some pretty challenging conditions - and provide independent verification of the machines' performance."

His links with marine renewables led him to Italy, where he worked with the developer of a turbine that generated electricity in a relatively gentle tidal stream off Sicily.

"The first machine to use our tidal test bed in Orkney will be almost eight times larger than the Italian device and is designed to produce far more power," Mr Kermode said.

"It will have the capacity to generate around one megawatt of electricity - the equivalent of a modern medium sized wind turbine."

The device, developed by Yorkshire-based Lunar Energy Ltd with the aid of £2.25 million in Government funding, is due to go into the water next year.

It will be hooked up to one of five seabed cables now installed in fast flowing water at the Falls of Warness off the Orkney island of Eday.

These cables will have the capacity to transmit electricity into the National Grid - along with a constant stream of performance data for analysis at EMEC's nerve centre in Stromness.

Close to the Stromness headquarters is the deep water Atlantic test site already established at Billia Croo, where wave energy converters are put through their paces.

History was made here when Pelamis, developed by Edinburgh-based Ocean Power Delivery, started producing power for the National Grid.

It was the world's first trial of a grid-connected machine capable of turning energy from offshore waves into electricity we can use to run our homes and businesses.

EMEC, the only facility of its kind in the world, has a global role to play in testing and verifying wave and tidal energy converters - a crucial step in turning prototypes into income generating technology.

"I wasn't here when North Sea oil was first tapped, but I've seen the enormous benefits it's brought for the country," said Mr Kermode. "I firmly believe we are now taking the same first steps with marine renewables.

"When I'm at Billia Croo, or looking out at the Falls of Warness, I feel I'm at the birthplace of a new industry with huge potential for the UK, for Scotland, and for Orkney in particular."

Mr Kermode's appointment has been welcomed by Ken Grant, chief executive of Orkney Enterprise, which has been closely involved in EMEC's development.

"With EMEC we can offer world class test facilities to help developers make the most of Orkney's world beating wave and tidal resources," he said. "Neil Kermode has the qualities and experience needed to give EMEC a central role in the development of marine renewables."

Mr Kermode's commitment to developing sea-based energy-producing technology was demonstrated when he took a year's sabbatical from his previous job with the Environment Agency to develop a marine renewables idea of his own.

With support from Orkney Islands Council and Orkney Enterprise, he commissioned a computer-based study of the power generating potential of turbines built into the Churchill Barriers, the causeways that provide road links between four of the islands.

Although the early results were less promising than he hoped, Mr Kermode remains convinced that the concept - first conceived during a diving holiday in Orkney - is well worth further investigation.