The latest project news from Atlantis
Tags: Tidal Power, News, Climate Change, Impact

Our investors have been supporting Atlantis for almost three years, in which time the company has made solid progress on its journey from tidal power pioneer to a producer of predictable and reliable power. Atlantis has generated more than 21 GWh of clean electricity for the grid and created a pipeline of projects that are playing an important role in the drive for Net Zero.

The more tidal power that Atlantis (and other operators) can install, the quicker the sector overall can benefit from the cost economies of scale. This is nowhere proven so forcefully as in the case of offshore wind where the 3-stage 6 GW array on Dogger Bank has just won a guaranteed price below today’s market prices. The significance of this cannot be overstated, and it was the product of hard work and visionary investors backing the long term goal. Watch out oil and gas, renewable energy is coming for you!

A raft of announcements since the latest Abundance offer launched demonstrate how Atlantis is expanding its activities both within and beyond tidal, with the potential to change the landscape for energy, waste, and industry in the UK and abroad. Its tie-up with SIMEC and the landmark Uskmouth project in South Wales, which is well advanced thanks in part to the funds raised from Abundance customers, are central to its continued progress.

The selection of projects profiled below demonstrate its considerable expertise as well as the scale of Atlantis’ ambition. Every pound invested on Abundance is helping the company translate that ambition into action. As we rise to the challenge of creating the Net Zero future we so badly need, our investors’ support for Atlantis is another step in the right direction.

MeyGen — a route to subsidy-free expansion and the key to a potential new industry for Scotland

In an example of how Atlantis is responding to the world around it with an eye for both business and the environment, September 2019 saw the company announce plans to build the world’s first ocean-powered data centre and the largest data centre in Scotland.

Data centres are notoriously energy intensive, and yet data-hungry modern life means that we need ever more data centres to meet demand. Atlantis could be creating an opportunity for a whole new infrastructure industry in Scotland by planning this project for the next phase of its flagship MeyGen array. It has the potential to attract the first hyperscale data centre occupier to the country, while also delivering critical progress to the commercialisation of tidal energy. By plugging the data centre directly into the MeyGen tidal array, the data centre operator can save as much as a third on its power bills by avoiding transmission costs and still pay MeyGen a price for the power it generates which means it needs no subsidy.

Our investors supported early operations at MeyGen, which have helped give Atlantis the tools to conceive and develop solutions to current pressing issues like this. In addition, MeyGen Phase 1 achieved 60% local supply chain — if further phases, including the data centre, can do the same then Atlantis, and by extension you, will be directly contributing to the creation of long term employment and prosperity for the UK.

Alderney — creating a template for island communities to champion clean power

This month Atlantis also announced that its joint venture, Normandie Hydroliennes, would supply the island of Aldnerney in the Channel Islands with power from a proposed tidal array in the Raz Blanchard, the fast-flowing tidal race between Alderney and mainland France. Atlantis intends to install 4 turbines and has outlined a deal with the island to supply at least 5 GWh of electricity per year for an above-market price (the island currently pays more than £200 / MWh for its diesel-generated electricity today compared to around £45–50 / MWh in UK wholesale markets) for a period of 20 years. The electricity would be enough to meet the entire current energy demand of the island, while the agreed price allows Atlantis to build out tidal power profitably — a significant step.

The Raz Blanchard is one of the most promising tidal stream sites in Europe, with the Alderney announcement forming the starting point of what could be a significant development — for Europe’s decarbonisation objectives and Atlantis as a company. In the race to Net Zero this deal also creates a template for a secure, price-stable energy supply for other tidal-rich, diesel-reliant island communities.

Your financial support can help make the Raz Blanchard tidal array a reality, as the funds raised for Atlantis Future Energy 2019 will be used to help Atlantis advance all aspects of its business — including consenting and engineering work on sites in the Raz Blanchard.

Uskmouth — creating a steady income and a blueprint for repurposing coal power plants

As the world’s leading developer of tidal stream generation Atlantis finds itself at the heart of the pressing issue which is stewardship of our oceans. With the pervasive impact of plastics becoming ever more evidenced by films such “A Plastic Ocean” and therefore understood, its response is the Uskmouth conversion project.

Atlantis acquired the formerly coal-fired Uskmouth power plant as part of its tie-up with SIMEC in 2018, and our investors helped to fund the first stage of converting it to run on specially designed waste pellets (a mixture of non-recyclable paper, cardboard, and plastic). Repurposing the plant in this way will see Atlantis using and improving its project management and engineering expertise to demonstrate how we can tackle the problem of waste plastic and a need for lower carbon baseload power. The project is also designed to be profitable without subsidy, helping Atlantis to build sustainable long term income.

As well as reducing emissions from power generation this sort of project can also improve the lifetime embodied carbon impact of some of our biggest infrastructure, because it saves it from being demolished. Given that 10% of the UK’s emissions are directly attributable to the construction industry this type of consideration is becoming increasingly important.

With an expected extended life of another 20 years, Atlantis can quickly contribute substantial carbon savings of more than 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year compared to if the plant was generating power from coal, without baking in a permanent requirement for plastics as fuel. Whilst technologies to repurpose waste plastic are beginning to materialise, they are some way off delivering at scale, meaning our plastic problem goes to indiscriminate incineration, landfill or worse.

A world of project opportunities

These projects are just the tip of the iceberg for Atlantis, which has more announcements to come. Uskmouth and the ocean-powered data centre have the potential to spark new industry that Atlantis can export abroad. Indeed, the Uskmouth conversion has already generated significant domestic and foreign interest.

Together these projects will contribute to the company’s continued growth, particularly of the value of its assets. These have already increased almost 650% since 2012 (as shown in the table below) and ought to increase further as the MeyGen and Uskmouth projects see further development.