In the BBC Radio 4 ‘More or Less’ episode on 28 June 2023, you can hear the clarification that we’re only talking of ‘tidal stream energy’ from the LSE researcher, 40 minutes in at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fxmcgy
The BBC reporters make much of the fact that other forms of wave power have been developed globally that generate far more power than tidal stream power but say nothing of the environmental problems these larger scale technologies create. More below on this.
Earlier in June 2023, the National print edition headline had the word ‘stream’ removed but it stayed in the online version. There was then a massive reaction suggestion that the National, the Scottish Government and campaigners were using fake news.
It was a storm in a narrow strait.
Today, the BBC has Could the UK’s tides help wean us off fossil fuels? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67170625
There’s little of Scotland in it but there is this:
Far bigger dams – or barrages – have been built to generate electricity, notably at La Rance in France in 1966 and at Sihwa Lake in South Korea in 2011.
But damming the flow of water can have devastating environmental impacts. Barrages change the flow of water and how salty it is, which can be very disruptive for plant and animal life.
Fish can be blocked into or out of the lagoons barrages and dams create, and can get caught in the blades of the turbines.
“That’s a really important consideration,” says Dr Smyth. “Especially when we’re thinking about a renewable source of energy that we want to be good for the environment. We do need to consider the full ecosystem impact.”
These concerns – and the massive cost – are why a £25bn proposal to build a barrage on the Severn Estuary between Somerset and Wales was rejected a decade ago.
They also explain why the focus of tidal power research has moved to the energy contained in tidal streams – the currents of water created by the rise and fall of the tides.
They run fastest where constrictions, like straits or inlets, funnel the water, increasing the speed of the flow.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67170625
Where are ‘straits or inlets, funnel the water, increasing the speed of the flow?’
No need for me to tell you.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
The article says Orkney is 20 miles from the Scottish mainland when it is 10 miles. The fast flowing current is the Pentland Firth between Orkney and Caithness.
As for the tidal stream project
https://saerenewables.com/tidal-stream/meygen/
“The 3.5km site covers some of the fastest flowing waters in the UK, just 2km from Scotland’s north-east tip.”
..it’s in Caithness.
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My comment was in reference to this link. The BBC article said
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67170625
“The Orkney Islands, 20 miles to the north of the Scottish mainland, have some of the most extreme tidal streams which is why the European Marine Energy Centre was set up there two decades ago.
The biggest array – and the most straightforward design – is being installed by the Scottish company, MeyGen. Its idea is simple: plant a series of huge turbines on the seafloor so the blades spin as the water flows past. Four have been installed to date, each with three 16m blades.”
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