Marine energy experts in Scotland are to help advise their South Korean counterparts in creating a tidal testing facility.

The agreement is just the latest secured by the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, which is a world leader in the sector.

At the European Marine Energy Centre, more wave and tidal machines have been tested than anywhere else in the world.

Its experts have now agreed to help South Korea develop its own testing facility to harness the power of the sea off its west coast.

Neil Kermode, of the centre, said: “We think we can offer the South Koreans a huge amount of experience. We have been working with tidal energy now for six years and have a lot of experience in how a test centre works.

“Our developers know about the machines, we know about the test centre and we think we can help the South Koreans establish their test centre to work alongside us.”

The experts believe there are many similarities between Scotland and South Korea when it comes to tidal energy.

“They are comparable in many ways. They have very, very strong tides and it is the tides they are aiming to harvest. The tides around Orkney run at 4 metres per second, 8mph, and that means there is a huge amount of energy flowing past these islands all the time. That’s what they have got in Korea without some of the weather challenges we have,” he added.

It is the fifth agreement of its type for the centre, further enhancing its status as a world leader in marine energy.