The launch of the world’s first large-scale tidal energy farm in Scotland has been hailed as a significant moment for the renewable energy sector.
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Tim Cornelius, CEO of Atlantis Resources Ltd and Chairman of the MeyGen, project will address delegates during tomorrow’s morning session with contributions from Cameron Smith, director of the project’s development, later in the day.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon officially unveiled Atlantis Resources Limited’s (LON:ARL) MeyGen Project at the Nigg Energy Park in Scotland Monday afternoon. “In the coming years, success at MeyGen and other pioneering projects will open up tidal energy markets around the world, just like we’ve seen happen with wind and solar energy”, said Rémi Gruet, at the launch ceremony in Inverness.
German energy company RWE tapped into the renewable energy scheme in Scotland by developing prototype tidal current turbines installed offshore at the beginning of the decade.
The four 1.5MW turbines to be installed on Phase 1A of the project weigh nearly 200 tonnes each and have rotor diameter of 18 meters.
After the unveiling, the turbines and their foundations, each weighing more than 1,000 tonnes, will be transported to the project site in the Pentland Firth through a DP2 jack-up vessel, operated by Geosea, a subsidiary of the DEME Group.
The unveiling of turbines follows the connection of the project to the National Grid at the Ness of Quoys distribution network in June 2016. The MeyGen project is a major step forward in terms of scale, giving us a great boost in maintaining Britain’s pole position.
Atlantis is expecting to supply first power from the MeyGen Phase 1A to the grid later this year.
It has received £23 million in Scottish Government funding and will “invigorate” the industry with new jobs, the First Minister said. When completed, the MeyGen project will consist of 269 turbines and generate enough energy to power 175,000 United Kingdom homes.
Ahead of her visit to Nigg Energy Park in Ross-shire, the First Minister called on the UK Government to support the industry. In total, the developer, Edinburgh-based Atlantis Resources, intends to install up to 269 turbines, bringing the project’s capacity to 398MW – enough to power 175,000 homes.
“Highly skilled operation and maintenance jobs will also need to be carried out locally, providing strong local employment opportunity for rural areas”.
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She also reminded United Kingdom government to honour its earlier commitment to provide ring-fenced allocation for marine energy under its renewables support scheme.
