The Scottish firm behind Europe’s largest consented tidal-energy project, the MeyGen development in the Pentland Firth, said yesterday it had raised £6.5million from a share placement.
Edinburgh-based Atlantis Resources, which has an 85% stake in MeyGen, also revealed it was in the process of finalising annual results showing maiden profits in 2015.
Proceeds from the sale of nearly 12million new shares in the business – at 55p per unit – will be used to fund development activities across the Atlantis project portfolio and also working capital.
Phase 1A of the 398 megawatt (MW) MeyGen scheme is forecast to produce first power in the second half of this year, paving the way for two further stages which are expected to eventually take the generating capacity up to 86MW.
Atlantis said the share sale proceeds would allow it to bring phase 1B, with grant funding worth £13.4million attached, to a financial close and accelerate development of phase 1C to achieve the same in 2017.
When fully operational, the entire 398MW array is expected to generate enough electricity to power 175,000 homes by the early 2020s.
Atlantis said its new cash injection would also help to achieve financial close for the 10MW Sound of Islay project on the west coast of Scotland following a £16.5million grant award from the EU’s NER 300 programme for innovative low-carbon energy demonstration projects.
Chief executive Tim Cornelius added: “Through this successful placing, both existing and new shareholders have demonstrated their support for Atlantis, our recent achievements and our ambitions for the future – both in the immediate and longer term.
“We look forward to working with our partners to further the development of the tidal stream industry in the UK and beyond.”
Alternative Investment Market (AIM)-listed Atlantis will announce its results for the year to December 31, 2015, on or before May 31.
A trading update from the firm yesterday said: “Whilst the financial statements have not yet been signed off by the company’s auditors, the draft financial statements show a profit.
The expected maiden profits of £2.7million were driven by an accounting gain on the acquisition of tidal-energy technology firm Marine Current Turbines from German conglomerate Siemens last July.
Atlantis, which has a holding company in Singapore, said it had “a number of opportunities” to generate any additional working capital.
These include syndication of equity in its project portfolio, and the firm is “highly confident” its future cash needs will be met from these sources.
It added: “In the unlikely event that none, or a limited number, of these opportunities is realised it is possible that the company may be required to seek alternative funding, which may include in due course a further equity fundraising on AIM.
“Alternatively, it may need to reduce investment in elements of its business which may affect the investment case.”
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