€46.8m ‘game-changing’ tidal energy project approved for Channel regions
16 October 2019
SIMEC ATLANTIS ENERGY LIMITED
(“Atlantis”, the “Company” or the “Group”)
€46.8m ‘game-changing’ tidal energy project approved for Channel regions
Interreg France (Channel) England Programme, an EU programme set up to foster economic development around the Channel regions of the UK and France, has approved the biggest ever Interreg project which will be a game-changer for the tidal stream energy sector.
The Tidal Stream Industry Energiser Project, known as TIGER, is an ambitious €46.8m project, of which €28m comes from the European Regional Development Fund via the Interreg France (Channel) England Programme.
The Channel region has an abundance of tidal energy resource with c.4GW of economically exploitable resource. Over the three years of its project timeline, TIGER aims to drive the growth of the tidal energy industry by installing up to 8MW of new tidal capacity at sites in and around the Channel region.
Atlantis will participate in the TIGER program via its French joint venture, Normandie Hydroliennes, which is an initiative with regional investment fund, Normandie Participations, and local manufacturer, Efinor. Normandie Hydroliennes is one of 19 project partners involved in TIGER.
The TIGER program will assist in the development of the tidal energy project Atlantis intends to develop and deploy at the Raz Blanchard site off the coast of Normandy, France. As part of an initial demonstration array, some of the energy generated at the site will be sold to Alderney Electricity Limited to supply the Channel island of Alderney with clean, renewable energy, reducing its current reliance on carbon intensive diesel generation.
With funding provided by the Interreg France (Channel) England Programme, it is anticipated that Atlantis’ demonstration array will be a precursor to larger scale arrays in both French and Alderney’s territorial waters, generating power that can be exported to both the UK and Europe.
Tim Cornelius, President of Normandie Hydroliennes and CEO of SIMEC Atlantis Energy commented:
“It is an honour to be involved in such a large initiative, working with the world’s leading marine energy companies and academic institutions. Normandie Hydroliennes was established specifically to commercialise marine energy in France, and this EU support really is a shining example of how European funding has enabled collaboration between organisations in the UK and France.
We are excited to be working on such a collaborative initiative which will set an example for how industries can unite behind a common cause to deliver decarbonisation, technology disruption and progress at scale.
The Channel region is now set to join Scotland as a world leader in marine energy project development at a time when governments around the world are finally seeing the value in cost effective solutions for non-visually intrusive, predictable, reliable and environmentally benign energy generation solutions.
This project will serve a dual purpose – it will help us to decarbonise the island of Alderney as well as prepare regional and national governments for the development of large-scale tidal power arrays to harvest some of the over 4GW of available energy waiting to be tapped.”
Enquiries:
| SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Dagley, Chief Financial Officer |
via FTI Consulting |
| Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) Rick Thompson David Porter |
+44 (0)20 7894 7000 |
| J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Joint Broker) Michael Wentworth Stanley |
+44 (0) 207 742 4000 |
| FTI Consulting Ben Brewerton Alex Beagley James Styles Molly Stewart |
+44 (0)20 3727 1000 |
Notes to Editors
Simec Atlantis Energy
SIMEC Atlantis Energy is the global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects with a diverse portfolio of more than 1,000 megawatts in various stages of development. This includes a 77% stake in the world’s largest tidal stream power project, MeyGen, and a 100% stake in the 220MW Uskmouth Power Station conversion project.