SIMEC Atlantis Energy Ltd (LON:SAE) today shared its plans to build up to 2 GW of tidal energy capacity in Normandie, France, through a newly-created joint venture.
The company, formerly known as Atlantis Resources, has entered into a JV agreement with the Development Agency for Normandy, also known as AD Normandy, and regional investment fund Normandie Participations to co-develop a tidal stream project in the hundreds of megawatts in Raz Blanchard.
SIMEC Atlantis will be the majority owner of the new firm, Normandie Hydrolienne, whose task will be to establish an operational presence in Normandy. The JV will look into the possibility of delivering power profitably at a price that is below the current offshore wind feed-in tariff (FiT) of EUR 150 (USD 170.6) per MWh for projects to be realised between 2021 and 2023. The firm will first investigate the techno-economic feasibility of a multi-hundred-megawatt tidal energy project and then prepare an application for consent to build such a plant in Raz Blanchard using locally-manufactured, 2-MW AR2000 horizontal axis turbines.
The target is to commence construction work on a large-scale project in 2021 and have a full multi-hundred-megawatt array operational by 2024.
If all goes as planned, Normandie Hydrolienne will eventually be harnessing up to 2 GW of power from the Alderney Race, the eight-mile strait that runs between Alderney and La Hague, and will have over 1 GW of resource from adjacent concessions under the control of the States of Alderney.
“Our techno-economic feasibility study plans for the delivery of an initial 1 GW of operational capacity by 2025, which could be quickly expanded to 2 GW by 2027, at a Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) competitive with offshore wind farms currently in construction in France,” said Tim Cornelius, CEO of SIMEC Atlantis.
Immediately after being incorporated, the new company will start work on identifying a suitable site for turbine assembly, production and commissioning in Normandy. In July, when news broke about the liquidation of sector player OpenHydro, Cornelius commented that SIMEC Atlantis would be willing to discuss the future of the assembly plant for OpenHydro tidal turbines in Cherbourg.
According to SIMEC Atlantis, combined, all developments considered by Normandie Hydrolienne will have the potential to supply more power, and at a lower cost, than the Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station in Somerset, England.
(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.137)
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AR2000 tidal turbine concept. Source: SIMEC Atlantis
