Simec Atlantis gets £2.5m Scottish Enterprise loan for tidal project

Simec Atlantis Energy announced on Friday that its majority-owned MeyGen tidal project has secured a non-convertible loan of £2.5m from Scottish Enterprise.

The AIM-traded firm said the loan would enable the redeployment of the remaining two turbines at the MeyGen site within the next year, and followed the successful deployment in March of the AR1500, 1.5MW tidal turbine.

It said the first of the turbines was scheduled for redeployment in May, with the final turbine to be deployed in March next year, with a retrofitted wet-mate connection system, more-than-halving the costs of future turbine recoveries and deployments.

Simec said demonstrating the viability of the tidal turbines was “vital” to the success of MeyGen, which is the world’s largest planned tidal stream project.

When operational, the turbines had “far exceeded” expectations, with the funding from Scottish Enterprise set to support deployment and activity to ensure the project’s continuation.

“The successes and challenges we have faced on this project pave the way to establish a world leading industry in Scotland and bring huge economic and environmental benefits for Scotland and the UK,” said chief executive officer Graham Reid.

“Our focus now is in ensuring our turbines are returned to operation as quickly and safely as possible.”

At 1546 BST, shares in Simec Atlantis Energy were up 22.45% at 1.9p.