Atlantis buys out 398MW tidal project as it aims for Asia market

The Australian-founded and managed tidal energy company Atlantis Resources Corp has bought 100 per cent of the 398MW tidal wave energy project in Scotland, the largest in Europe.

Atlantis, a marine turbine company which was formed in Australia but moved to Singapore to better access finance, bought the outstanding shares from GDF Suez and Morgan Stanley, the investment bank which owns a majority stake in Atlantis. Atlantis already held a 10 per cent stake in the project.

MeyGen recently received offshore planning consents from the Scottish government, which aims to be 100 per cent renewable by 2020. The first turbines are expected to be installed in 2015.

“The size, location and tidal resource of MeyGen make it one of the most exciting marine energy projects under development anywhere in the world,” Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius said in a statement.

“Having first established the MeyGen project back in 2006, we are very pleased to again have overall control of the project as the lead project developer, as we enter the final straight towards first array deployment.

“We are hugely excited about the site’s potential and look forward to continuing to work with the existing project team on its successful realisation.”

Cornelius said the project would also help its “wider strategic objectives”, which include sites in China, India and Canada.

Atlantis is working with its technology partner Lockheed Martin to develop these and other projects in the UK, Europe and Asia and north America.