The Atlantis Resources Meygen project based in the Pentland Firth has today announced the completion of its construction phase and the start of the tidal projects 25 year operational phase.
During Phase 1A the todal array generated 6GW of energy and saw monthly production of 1,400MW a month of tidal energy.
The turbine was first installed for Phase 1A in the Pentland Firth, between Orkney and Caithness, in 2017.
Atlantis say that the the completion of the construction of Phase 1A combined with the ongoing production and reliability levels achieved “help to progress the viability of tidal stream energy as a clean and predictable energy source”.
Last year Atlantis’s MeyGen project faced peril as it was not awarded a CfD in this allocation round in respect of Phase 1C of the world’s largest tidal stream project in northern Scotland.
The announcement of this new 25 year operational phase come as a major boost for one of Scotland’s best known tidal projects.
Tim Cornelius, Atlantis CEO and MeyGen chairman, said: “Seeing the MeyGen project move into the operations phase is another major milestone on the path to commercialising tidal stream energy.
“We would like to thank all our funders, contractors and shareholders for their unwavering support and belief in the project over the years. I would especially like to thank Scottish Enterprise, Highland and Islands Enterprise, Crown Estate Scotland, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Morgan Stanley and Engie. We would also like to highlight the invaluable contributions made by the two turbine suppliers, the highly skilled local supply chain in Scotland and the MeyGen project team. Their commitment and dedication to deliver the project from concept design to commercial operation over the years has been truly exceptional.
“We are incredibly proud of this achievement and this provides a solid platform for building out the full capacity at MeyGen and many other similar sites worldwide. This achievement is a triumph of public policy and a demonstration of what can be achieved when government and the private sector roll their sleeves up and decide to create a whole new industry together.”
John Robertson, senior energy and infrastructure manager at Crown Estate Scotland, the body that manages leasing of the seabed, said:”This is a real success story for MeyGen, for the tidal sector and for Scotland. We are incredibly pleased to have been part of this and look forward to supporting MeyGen and the other tidal energy projects in Scottish waters as the sector strengthens and grows.”
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