Atlantis could resume Anglesey Skerries tidal project

Anglesey Skerries tidal project could be restarted after the recent acquisition of Marine Current Turbines, the initial developer of the tidal array project, by Atlantis Resources.

The location of the proposed Anglesey Skerries tidal array project is in the Sound between the group of rocks and islands known as the Skerries and Carmel Head on mainland Anglesey, less than 1 km from the Anglesey coast, north west Wales.

The project would feature an array of five SeaGen S 2 MW devices, with the total capacity of up to 10 MW.

The Welsh Government issued the Marine Licence for the offshore elements of the project in 2013.

In late 2013 the Isle of Anglesey County Council awarded planning permission for the onshore elements of the project consisting of a small substation at Cemaes, and associated cabling.

A variation to the Marine Licence was approved by Natural Resources Wales in early 2014 to change the route of the export cable to come ashore at Cemaes Bay.

The installation of the Anglesey Skerries tidal array was planned for summer 2016, but late in 2014, Siemens decided to leave tidal energy business and to sell its subsidiary, Marine Current Turbines, thus abandoning the Anglesey Skerries tidal array project.

On April 29, Atlantis announced that it has acquired Marine Current Turbines from Siemens, with seabed rights, existing projects, staff and intellectual property included.

With this acquisition Atlantis has added six projects expanding its operations to Wales, Northern Ireland and Southern England and increased the company’s project development capacity to nearly 600 MW.

Tim Cornelius, CEO of Atlantis, said that the company would explore options for developing Anglesey Skerries site further.

“We are committed to supporting the development of all MCT’s planned projects and will assess the best way forward on a case by case basis.

“We are especially delighted to be acquiring the Skerries project in Anglesey. It is widely considered to be one of highest potential projects in the UK, and as we understand it, it has full consents and is construction ready pending financial close.

“We will look forward to exploring the opportunities to develop the site further following the completion of our acquisition,” Tim Cornelius was quoted as saying by The Daily Post, North Wales’ daily newspaper.

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Image: Marine Current Turbines