SIMEC Atlantis Energy, a world leading developer of tidal energy projects, announces the formation of a joint venture company with Development Agency for Normandy , the regional agency for economic development in Normandy and regional investment fund Normandie Participations, for the purpose of developing a large-scale project in Raz Blanchard, Normandie.
The joint venture company, Normandie Hydrolienne, will establish an operational presence in Normandy and Atlantis will hold a majority stake.
Normandie Hydrolienne has been established with the intention of eventually harnessing up to 2GW of power from the Alderney Race, the eight-mile strait that runs between Alderney and La Hague, France, as well as more than 1GW of resource from adjacent concessions under the control of the States of Alderney.
Combined, Normandie Hydrolienne has the potential to provide more power than the Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station in Somerset, England and at a lower cost.
The administrator for all required consents for deployment, operation and construction for tidal power in France is ADEME and the team built within Normandie Hydrolienne looks forward to working with ADEME to seek to secure all of the necessary consents required to build out a tidal power project of scale in Normandy.
The administrator for all required consents for deployment, operation and construction for tidal power in Alderney is the Alderney Commission and whilst no commercial negotiations have commenced with the States of Alderney at this time, Normandie Hydrolienne looks forward to being afforded the opportunity engage in constructive dialogue with the States of Alderney to harness the considerable natural resource surrounding the island
Project Highlights
The proposed Raz Blanchard project to be developed by Normandie Hydrolienne has aspirations to:
- Investigate the techno-economic feasibility of a multi-hundred-megawatt tidal energy project to be located in Raz Blanchard initially which could be expanded into an even larger project making use of all of the unexploited resource present in The Alderney Race;
- Determine if it is possible to deliver energy profitably at a price that is less than the current offshore wind feed in tariff of €150/MWh (for projects to be delivered between 2021-23);
- Prepare an application for consent to build a multi-hundred-megawatt tidal energy project in Raz Blanchard and work closely with ADEME and all relevant government ministries to obtain all relevant approvals;
- Seek to build a demonstration array in Raz Blanchard array using AR2000, 2MW horizontal axis turbines which will be built in France. The timing of commissioning of the demonstration array will depend on consenting, permitting and financing;
- Have a full multi-hundred-megawatt array online by 2024 using AR2000 turbines.
Normandie Hydrolienne will be incorporated in Normandy where it will immediately establish a commercial presence and commence work on identifying a suitable site for turbine assembly, production and commissioning in Normandy.
