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Simec Atlantis Energy has announced a technology partnership and preferred supplier agreement with General Electric’s (GE) power conversion business.
Under the terms of the deal, the companies will cooperate and share resources for the ongoing development of utility-scale tidal energy generation and associated energy storage solutions.
They will also engage in joint marketing activities to promote their new subsea connection technologies and the wider benefits of cleaner, predictable tidal energy.
Atlantis and GE have already been working together since September 2018 on the development of Atlantis’ AR2000 tidal generation system, which is expected to be the world’s largest and most powerful single axis turbine available.
As well as making them available for commercial purchase, they also plan to add two of the new 2MW turbines to the MayGen tidal array in Scotland by late 2019, expanding the current capacity of four 1.5MW turbines.
The director of Atlantis’s turbine and engineering services division (ATES), Drew Blaxland, said: “GE is a world leader in power conversion equipment development and supply. The AR2000 is expected to be the world’s largest single axis tidal turbine and it will be deployed on the world’s largest tidal power project. We want to partner with the world’s best companies; leaders in technology and innovation.
“This agreement with GE is a clear demonstration of our commitment to working with industry leading companies to deliver utility scale tidal power. As the sole supplier of turbine generation equipment to the second phase of the MeyGen project in Scotland, partnering with GE unlocks enormous opportunities to build on 10 years of R&D to now deliver more cost-effective, cleaner tidal power solutions for developers around the world.
“We expect that the AR2000 will become the system of choice for developers of tidal power projects around the world. Developed and built in Britain and then exported around the world.”
Peter Oram, commercial director of GE’s power conversion business, added: “We are delighted to be working together towards cleaner energy solutions – harnessing natural resources, like tidal energy, and applying GE’s efficient MV power conversion technologies allows us to turn this abundant source of energy into reliable, predictable power, for the UK and the world.”
As well as tidal power, Atlantis are currently adapting coal-firing Uskmouth power station in Wales to produce electricity from biomass, having raised £20 million for the project last year.
Elsewhere, earlier this month, plans for a Mersey tidal power scheme entered an assessment phase, while last week a group of 91 MPs singed a letter petitioning the government to provide ring-fenced subsidies for wave and tidal power.
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