Muckle Green Holm

Muckle Green Holm is an uninhabited island in the North Isles of the Orkney archipelago in Scotland. It is roughly 28 hectares (0.11 sq mi) in extent and rises to 28 metres (92 ft) above sea level, the summit having a triangulation pillar.

Muckle Green Holm

Scottish Gaelic name	Unknown
Old Norse name	Hellisey
Meaning of name	Mixture of Scots and Old Norse meaning 'large green small round island'.
Muckle Green Holm seen from the north-west
Location
Muckle Green Holm Muckle Green Holm shown within Orkney
OS grid reference	HY525272
Coordinates	59.13°N 2.83°W / 59.13; -2.83
Physical geography
Island group	Orkney
Area	28 hectares (0.11 sq mi)[1]
Highest elevation	28 m
Administration
Council area	Orkney Islands
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Demographics
Population	0
References	[2][3]

Name

'Muckle' is Scots for 'big' or 'large'; 'holm' is from the Old Norse holmr, a small and rounded islet.^[4]

Geography

To the south lies Little Green Holm, and between the two is the Sound of Green Holms. Eastward is a strait called Fall of Warness between Muckle Green Holm and the much larger island of Eday.

Muckle Green Holm has a great cormorant colony and a population of European otters.^[2]

Tidal power

The Fall of Warness has strong tidal currents suitable for tidal power.

Starting in 2007,^[5] the European Marine Energy Centre installed tidal power testing equipment.^[6]

In 2021, Orbital Marine Power installed a tidal turbine called Orbital O2 that supplies 2MW to the electrical grid.

See also

List of Orkney islands