Nova Innovation, SIMEC Atlantis join forces to turbo charge tidal energy industry

Scottish tidal energy companies Nova Innovation and SIMEC Atlantis Energy have entered into collaboration agreement with the goal of delivering more UK-built tidal turbines in the water, turbo charging the tidal industry.

The collaboration will see two companies work together to deliver their complementary technologies for the tidal industry, Scotland and the UK

The focus initially is on the commitment to deliver Nova Innovation and SIMEC Atlantis turbines at the MeyGen site.

The SIMEC Atlantis owned, operated, and developed MeyGen site is the largest fully consented and operational tidal stream site in the world, with a potential capacity of nearly 400MW.

The MeyGen site has all the necessary consents to deploy a further 80MW of tidal power and all that is needed to unlock this potential is a route to market.

Nova Innovation and SIMEC Atlantis said they look forward to working with all stakeholders to help unlock this exciting opportunity and see further Scottish-made turbines deployed at the world-leading site.

Between the companies, they have delivered over half of the tidal stream devices operational worldwide and are developing sites in the UK, Canada, Japan and France. Both companies deploy subsea turbines which generate predictable, renewable power with no visual impact.

Graham Reid, CEO of Atlantis Energy, said: “Collaboration is a core value at Atlantis Energy and our work with our partners has been key to delivering so many of the milestones for our company. I am delighted to be working with Simon and the Nova team to deliver on our clear commitment of deploying Scottish-built turbines from both Atlantis and Nova at the MeyGen site”.

The companies hosted the leader of the SNP in Westminster, Ian Blackford, and his colleagues, Steven Flynn, Alan Brown, and Deirdre Brock, at Nova Innovation’s headquarters and manufacturing facility in Leith in Scotland.

During the visit the MPs were shown the control room for Nova’s operational tidal array in Shetland, and were also briefed by the companies on how this collaboration will deliver jobs and investment if the tidal energy sector receives that all important route to market from Westminster.

This is an industry that, according to an independent report released this month by the Royal Society, can deliver over 11GW of predictable, renewable power in the UK creating thousands of jobs across the country. However, it needs the right support from Westminster to enable the next phase of deployment that will see the industry delivering scale while driving down costs.

Simon Forrest, CEO of Nova Innovation, added: “We were delighted to welcome Ian and his Westminster team to discuss the huge opportunity that the tidal industry presents to Scotland and the UK. At Nova, we are doing all we can do deliver this, and our collaboration with Atlantis to develop the MeyGen site is a key milestone for us and the industry. In working together to develop the MeyGen site, we are cementing Scotland’s place as the world leader for tidal energy”.

Ian Blackford noted: “The collaboration between these two world-leading tidal companies will allow them to build on their successes and deliver more turbines into the water.

“The UK government must now match this ambition and deliver the dedicated ring-fenced funding required to secure the future of this vital green industry”.