OpenHydro and Alderney Renewable Energy have signed a joint venture that will see the companies develop a 300 MW tidal energy array off the coast of Alderney in the English Channel.
The joint venture company, named Race Tidal Ltd., was announced during the recent Thetis Marine Renewable Energy conference in Cherbourg, France.
“The joint venture that we now have in place with OpenHydro is a critical piece in the jigsaw as we move to now make significant progress towards creating one of the largest renewable energy projects in European coastal waters,” Alderney Renewable Energy (ARE) executive chairman Nick Horler said.
ARE secured a 65-year license from the States of Alderney permitting it to develop marine energy projects in Alderney’s waters in 200 after the pair announced its intentions to develop a project in March 2007.
The companies said they will now work with the States of Alderney, the Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy and local communities and other stakeholders to complete the required surveys and environmental impact assessments before making a full application for consent.
Meanwhile, ARE and partner Transmission Investment LLP are developing energy links via a joint venture named FAB Link Limited, allowing power generated at the Alderney site to be sent to France and Britain.
If approved, the Alderney array could eventually include 150 2-MW generating units manufactured by OpenHydro in Cherbourg.
Commercial operation of the array would coincide with completion of the transmission line in 2020.
OpenHydro, a DCNS company, holds a 31% share in ARE. The Dublin-based company was selected in March to deploy an array in Canada’s Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE).
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