Simec Atlantis Energy through its partnership with ITPEnergised has worked with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and China Three Gorges to develop the latter’s first SG500kW tidal stream turbine.
The technology, which has a rotor diameter of 18 metres, was installed between the islands of Putuoshan and Huludao in the Zhoushan archipelago in China in the last week.
Work on the turbine was carried out at CSIC’s facilities in Wuhan, which in recent months had to deal with being at the centre of the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Simec Atlantis said its flagship MeyGen project in Scotland has provided the operational experience and performance data to export the company’s expertise and technology to the world.
Simec Atlantis chief executive Tim Cornelius said: “Atlantis can be extremely proud of the role we played in this project.
“The fast execution, from concept design to installation, represents a phenomenal feat of engineering that bodes well for a rapid future roll-out of tidal power in China, which in turn will have material cost reduction implications globally.
“MeyGen has demonstrated the true potential of tidal energy and has de-risked the market to the extent that we are now exporting knowhow and equipment internationally, with China the latest market to open in Asia.”
Over the past two years, Atlantis has expanded its global portfolio of tidal projects; from the tidal array development activities in Normandy, France to supporting the development of the Nautilus tidal energy project in Indonesia.
More recently, Atlantis announced that it is supplying tidal generation equipment and offshore construction services for a tidal demonstration project in Japan.