ATLANTIS Resources has made further progress with its plan to develop a giant tidal power scheme in the Pentland Firth after meeting the conditions to draw down £51 million funding
ATLANTIS Resources has made further progress with its plan to develop a giant tidal power scheme in the Pentland Firth after meeting the conditions to draw down £51 million funding
This will clear the way for building work to get underway in the coming weeks.
The Singapore-based company said financing for Phase 1A of the MeyGen project has now been fully committed and money will be released to suppliers and construction contractors to enable them to start work.
Meygen is expected to provide an important source of renewable energy.
It will involve installing up to 269 turbines on the seabed in the Inner Sound, between the Caithness coast and the island of Stroma.
Phase 1a will involve the installation of four 1.5 megawatt turbines and the construction of onshore infrastructure to include a power conversion centre and connection to the national grid.
It is expected the first electricity from these will be delivered to the grid in the first half of 2016.
Meygen believes when all the turbines are in place, in the 2020s, the facility could generate 398MW which is enough to provide power for 175,000 homes in Scotland,
Atlantis said Scottish Enterprise has committed to subscribe £9.7m equity fundng and will have a 13.5 per cent holding in Meygen.
The development agency will also provide a £7.5 million project finance debt facility and the UK Crown Estate will provide £10m.
Some £13.3 million grant funding will be supplied by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Atlantis is providing £10.8m equity funding. It will have a 86.5 per cent holding in Meygen, which is run from Edinburgh.
Meygen reckons the project will support more than 100 jobs over time and will help to reduce carbon emissions.
The project has a 25 year lease on the seabed from the Crown Estate.
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