Environmental impact is a key issue in gaining acceptance of new technologies. Some tidal technologies have been targeted at shallow water regions where interference to the local ecosystem from installation activities is a concern. As Evopod is a floating tethered device it imposes less disturbance on sensitive seabed ecosystems and its single turbine rotates at such low speeds (10 – 20rpm) that it is considered a low threat to marine wild life.

Evopod’s novel mooring solution employs a tight envelope to reduce the size of the exclusion zone for shipping. A seabed region of one square kilometre can support 39 x E1500 units giving, in an area such as the Pentland Firth, a total rated output of 58.5MW and enough energy to support 40,000 homes. This would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 140,000 tonnes per annum, if replacing power from a coal-fired power station.