TIDAL ENERGY FIRM ATLANTIS LOOKS TO RAISE £20M ON AIM

By Atlantis | January 14, 2014 |
7th January 2014
Atlantis Resources, the Singapore marine energy company behind the giant tidal project MeyGen in Scotland’s Pentland Firth, is looking to raise £20 million on London’s AIM market.

Up to half of the money raised through the initial public offering will fund the first phase of the MeyGen project off the coast of Caithness. MeyGen, which Atlantis acquired a 100 per cent stake in last November, is the first commercial tidal energyto be deployed off the Scottish coast and is the largest tidal array proposal in Europe. Atlantis has permission to deploy 86 devices in Phase One, enough to generate power for 42,000 homes, and is scheduled to begin initial power production in 2015. Eventually, Atlantis hopes to install enough capacity to generate 400 MW of electricity – enough to power around 400,000 homes.

Tim Cornelius, ceo of Atlantis Resources, said yesterday that the company was reviewing “options for the next stage of development, which include a potential listing in London.”
Tidal energy is still in its infancy, but according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance the industry has the potential to deploy 170 MW of generating capacity, mostly in Europe. The Carbon Trust estimates power from waves and tides could meet 20 per cent of the UK’s electricity demand by 2050. 
 
Leading the way
Atlantis and British company Marine Current Turbines are already world leaders in developing tidal stream devices and the UK Government believes Britain has the potential to be global leader in the sector and is offering tidal energy developers nearly double the amount of financial support under its new ‘strike price’ system than that being offered to offshore wind developers. Tidal projects will receive £305 per megawatt hour (MWh), compared to £155 per MWh for offshore wind. 
In March 2013, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) awarded MeyGen and Marine Current Turbines £10 million each to advance the commercialisation of their devices. 

“Significant potential”
Atlantis, which has tidal projects in other countries including France, China and Canada, also announced yesterday that it was appointing John Neill, chairman and chief executive of Unipart, as non-executive chairman, to help it with its next stage of development. 
“After many years of technology development, I believe that tidal energy, which can offer clean, predictable and sustainable electricity generation with minimal environmental and visual impact, has significant potential,” said Neill. “

“Atlantis, especially through its 100 per cent ownership of the MeyGen project in Scotland, is a significant player in the industry.”

Source: Greenwise
Story from: http://greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/tidal-energy-firm-atlantis-looks-to-raise-20m-on-aim-4209.aspx#.UtTnZPulvIU

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