Progress at Europe's Largest Tidal Scheme

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - One of the world's leading tidal stream projects has signed the largest marine energy license in the U.K.

Project developer Atlantis Resources Limited (Edinburgh, Scotland) signed a 398-megawatt (MW), 25-year seabed lease with The Crown Estate, which manages the U.K.'s near-shore waters.

The delay comes less than a month after Atlantis was successful in securing vital funding for the construction of the first phase of the Meygen tidal scheme in the Pentland Firth, Scotland. The project -- Europe's largest - raised €64 million ($84 million) through a funding syndicate comprising the U.K.'s Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), Scottish Enterprise via the Renewable Energy Investment Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, The Crown Estate, and Atlantis Resources. That funding is enough to deploy four submerged turbines with a combined generating capacity of 6 megawatts (MW) in the Inner Pentland Firth just north of Caithness, Scotland. It also recently secured an extra €9.4 million ($12.4 million) from the Energy Technologies Institute, allowing Atlantis to add two more 1.5-MW tidal nacelles, bringing the total capacity for the first phase to 9 MW. For additional information, see August 28, 2014, article - Big Wave of Funding for U.K. Tidal Project.

In August, Atlantis chose Swiss engineering company ABB Limited (NYSE:ABB) (Zurich, Switzerland) to provide onshore grid connection services for Meygen. For additional information, see August 21, 2014, article--Europe's Largest Tidal Scheme Finds Grid Partner.

"Signing the Lease with The Crown Estate is a significant achievement being the first of its kind and demonstrates how a commercial scale energy project can be designed, consented, engineered and funded within four years," explained Dan Pearson, Chief Executive of MeyGen. This is the culmination of a talented and committed team working alongside stakeholders and governments who are determined to launch a new energy sector within Scotland and the U.K..

Ronnie Quinn, Head of Ocean Energy, The Crown Estate said: "Our commitment to invest in and agree a lease for the Meygen project continues our strategy to explore tidal stream energy on a commercial scale and its potential to help unlock the nation's tidal energy resources over the long-term."

The nascent tidal energy sector in the U.K. is not all plain sailing however, as work at the proposed 10 MW Skerries tidal array project in Wales ground to a halt two weeks ago following the loss of a vital government grant. Developer, German engineering major Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany), stopped work at the project after its tidal energy company, Marine Current Turbines (MCT) (Bristol, England) was unable to match the funding from other investors within the grant's deadline. For additional information, see September 2, 2014, article - Siemens Stops Work on U.K. Tidal Array.

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