Atkins Hired as Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay’s Engineer

Atkins has been appointed by Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc to act as an engineer for its Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project in Wales, UK, the first renewable energy scheme of its type in the world.

Under the contract, Atkins will provide specialist design and engineering support acting on behalf of the client, including producing outline designs for the breakwater, turbine house and ancillary works and supporting the tender process by helping develop documents and reviewing responses and detailed designs. Once a design and build contractor is appointed and construction work starts, scheduled for Spring 2015, Atkins will also provide a range of site supervision, auditing and technical checking services.

Mike McNicholas, managing director of Atkins’ UK design and engineering business, said: “There are strong arguments for increased energy capacity and more self-sufficiency and the need is pressing. This scheme can move tidal lagoons from being a great idea to something real which can deliver green and reliable energy for thousands of homes and businesses around the UK within the next few years.

“This is a major civil engineering project which combines a wide range of disciplines from building services, power and architecture to structural and marine engineering. It is a world first and something which will make a positive difference to people in the UK and possibly wider afield. As designers and engineers, these are the things that make us get out of bed in the morning and it’s great to be part of the team.”

The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is a 320MW installed capacity project that has been accepted for consideration as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and seeks to establish a blueprint for the rapid roll-out of a new form of home-grown and built, low carbon energy infrastructure in the UK.