Tidal energy firm Atlantis Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ideol, a leading developer of offshore wind floating foundation solutions, which could lead to a 100 MW plant by 2021.
Atlantis is behind the MeyGen tidal energy project in the Pentland Firth, off mainland Scotland - the world's first commercial tidal energy array.
The move into floating offshore wind follows Atlantis' decision to establish Atlantis Energy, a new internal division to expand its offerings into non-tidal stream project development, including floating wind.
The collaboration will seek to initiate the development of a floating offshore wind project of up to 1.5 GW, with a pre-commercial phase of up to 100 MW commissioned by 2021.
Norway's Statoil is currently leading floating offshore wind developments in the UK, with its Hywind Scotland pilot park, which it recently sold a 25% in to Masdar. The park, consisting five, 6 MW floating wind turbines, is due onstream in 2017, and covers 4sq km, 25 km offshore Peterhead at water depths of 95-120m.
According to the UK's Energy Technologies Institute in the UK, floating wind has the potential to have a levelized cost of energy (a metric on which the industry is measured) of less than US$122 (£85)/MWh by the mid-2020s, in waters deeper than 50m.
Read more: Floating offshore wind, will it float?
Under the MOU, Atlantis will lead the review, selection and consenting of UK sites and in attracting third party funding. Ideol will design the technical concepts and be the exclusive provider for the floating foundation systems.
The firms says there are abundant offshore wind resources, governmental incentives and support frameworks, as well as oil and gas, maritime and fixed offshore wind experience in the UK, which could position the country as one of the market leaders in floating wind.
"Atlantis and Ideol intend to deliver the pathfinder project that will catalyze a boom in future floating offshore wind development in the UK," says the firm. Potential development sites were not revealed.
Tim Cornelius, CEO of Atlantis, commented: “Ideol are a high quality, technically proficient, world leading technology and services company capable of delivering cost competitive floating offshore wind solutions to a market that is voracious in its appetite for large scale offshore wind development at an optimized cost of energy. This MoU is a significant step in our diversification strategy and leverages our existing skill set accumulated during the progression of our tidal portfolio. To now be seeking to develop a large floating offshore wind project alongside the UK’s largest tidal stream project is truly exciting. We want to leverage Ideol’s expertise in designing, engineering, building and installing floating offshore wind substructures to bring UK consumers affordable, sustainable and secure power.”
Paul de la Guérivière, Ideol’s CEO, commented: “With two full-scale demonstrators currently under construction in France and in Japan, as well as a pre-commercial wind farm under permitting in the French Mediterranean, Ideol and its patented damping pool technology are at the forefront of a cost competitive and rapidly accelerating floating offshore wind industry. Our strategic goal is now focusing on the development of large commercial scale wind farm projects with several opportunities currently under review in and outside of Europe. We are very excited by our partnership with an ambitious organization such as Atlantis which has demonstrated its unique ability to develop innovative projects and to catalyze financing from strategic investors, in particular in a key market for Ideol such as the UK.”
Image: Statoil's Hywind, illustration. Image from Statoil.
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