Atlantis and GE deepen marine energy partnership

Just days after MPs called on the government to step up support for the UK's fledgling marine energy industry, one of the world's leading developers has announced plans to drive forward the development of a landmark tidal energy project off the coast of Scotland.

SIMEC Atlantis Energy announced yesterday that its turbine division will work with General Electric's power conversion business to share resources for the development of utility scale tidal energy generation and associated energy storage solutions.

The two firms have been working together since September 2018 on the development of Atlantis's AR2000 tidal generation system, based on a 2MW undersea turbine which the firm hopes to deploy at its MeyGen project in Scotland, the world's largest tidal stream energy plant.

The latest agreement is intended to accelerate the delivery of equipment and services to the second phase of the Meygen Project, Project Stroma, which will see two additional Atlantis AR2000 turbines connected via a new subsea hub to a single power export cable, itself connected to the National Grid via the MeyGen substation.

The partnership will also extend to marketing activities designed to promote innovative subsea connection tech and tidal energy more broadly.

"As the sole supplier of turbine generation equipment to the second phase of the MeyGen Project in Scotland, partnering with GE unlocks enormous opportunities to build on 10 years of R&D to deliver more cost-effective, cleaner tidal power solutions for developers around the world," said Drew Blaxland, director of Atlantis' Turbine and Engineering Services Division (ATES). "We expect that the AR2000 will become the system of choice for developers of tidal power projects around the world."

The move follows a letter published last week by a cross-party group of 91 MPs calling on the UK government to introduce new targeted support for the development of marine renewables in its forthcoming Energy White Paper.

In February, the Scottish government announced a £10m prize fund for projects working to cut the cost of tidal energy, named the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund. But wider support for the sector has been trimmed in recent years, leaving developers facing significant challenges as they look to secure long term supply contracts for the power they generate.

Tidal energy advocates argue the technology can deliver more predictable power than rival forms of renewables such as wind or solar and is well placed to cut costs as it scales up. But critics argue the sector still faces major engineering challenges, which will make it difficult to emulate the kind of cost reductions that have propelled the growth of wind and solar power energy over the past decade.