Britain's first underwater turbine has been plugged into the national power grid, with environmental campaigners arguing that it needs to be the start of a tidal power revolution.

Partly-funded by a £5.2 million grant from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), the new turbine at Strangford Lough, in Northern Ireland, is capable of producing 1200KW of power, enough to provide electricity for around 1,000 homes in the area.

The new site, which has been designed and built by Bristol-based Marine Current Turbines (MCT), represents the first time tidal energy has been harnessed on a commercial scale, though observers point to a national potential of five gigawatts of power from streams across the country.

Commenting on the Strangford site, Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace UK's climate and energy campaign, stated: "Clean reliable tidal stream power can make a massive contribution to Britain, cutting CO2 and fuel consumption. But it also offers a chance for us to be world leaders in a new and potentially huge industry."

Currently, MCT has plans to build a new tidal energy farm off the coast of Angelsey, while the Channel Islands and the Severn Estuary have also been identified as potential sources of power.