Last night, the 398MW MeyGen project was awarded the first ever ‘Navigator Award’ at the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE), in recognition of the project’s contribution to the global marine renewable industry.
The highly prestigious Award was awarded to the MeyGen Project, which is 86 percent owned by Atlantis Resources, at the International Conference on Ocean Energy, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Dan Pearson, CEO of MeyGen said: “At MeyGen, we are both thrilled and challenged to accept the ICOE 2014 Navigator award and recognition. We know that the eyes of the world are on our project, but we know we are solving lots of problems for the first time!”
The International Conference on Ocean Energy is held in even years and is the world developer conference for the wave and tidal industry. With 120 exhibitors in a tradeshow and more than 650 delegates from 25 countries, it is a benchmark event for this emerging industry.
Chris Campbell, chair of ICOE’s international organisers, remarked “MeyGen is the first project to secure leasing, environmental permitting, technology supply, power purchase and financial close agreements. The project has momentum and has potential to grow into an industrial-scale power plant.”
“Scotland, France, Ireland and Nova Scotia are the places to watch for these prototype tidal power projects” said Elisa Obermann of Marine Renewables Canada , the national organization hosting the fifth ICOE, for the first time outside Europe.
In its first phase, the MeyGen project will install four 1.5MW turbines offshore and construct the onshore infrastructure to support the project. Three of the turbines will be supplied by Andritz Hydro Hammerfest and one Lockheed Martin-designed turbine supplied by Atlantis. When fully operational, the 398MW tidal array will generate the electricity to power 175,000 Scottish homes by the early 2020s.