Simec Atlantis Energy has been awarded a €1m EU grant to support its tidal turbine R&D with Spanish supply chain partner Asturfeito SAU.
The agreement for the funding support is with the European Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) via the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and its Sustainable Blue Economy call for proposals.
The money will be used by Atlantis and Asturfeito in a two-year project, starting January 2019, focusing on reducing the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) for Atlantis’ technology.
On 30 October 2018, Atlantis announced its plans to enhance the existing 6MW MeyGen project, off the Scottish coast. The grant will support the innovations required to take the MeyGen project enhancement forward with a specific focus on the turbine upgrades needed to use the subsea hub and shared export cable.
Simec Atlantis director of turbine and engineering services Drew Blaxland said: “The AR1500 turbine installed at the MeyGen project, in 2017, marked the first commercial scale turbine installed in a tidal array.
“Following this successful deployment and record breaking operation of the AR1500 turbine we now look to the future and where opportunities to reduce the LCOE exist. This grant agreement and support from the Sustainable Blue Economy call allows us to accelerate one of our key LCOE cost reduction initiatives.”
Asturfeito SAU general manager Ricardo Rodrigue said: “This project represents a great opportunity for Asturfeito to enter a promising renewable energy sector partnering with key player Simec Atlantis. By providing our experience in subsea, oil and gas and offshore wind from the design stage, and using our capability to manufacture, integrate and test complex assemblies, we can support the development of cost effective turbines.”