Europe’s largest engineering conglomerate, Siemens, has given UK marine energy a further vote of confidence, upping its stake in pioneering tidal energy company Marine Current Turbine (MCT).
Siemens has increased its share in
MCT from 10 per cent to 45 per cent, MCT announced today. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but it comes at a crucial time for MCT, which is about to approach investors to secure funding for its first two
tidal array projects. This, along with the UK Government
announcement earlier this month that it would be increasing public subsidies for tidal and wave projects, should send out the right signals to the
investment community, MCT said.
"Siemens’ increased investment as well as UK Government support should give investors the confidence that we have the necessary backing to deliver these crucial projects and the ones to follow," Dr Andrew Tyler, ceo of MCT said.
Siemens is already an important player in the wind power sector and its latest move indicates it wants to get a firm foothold in the fledgling marine energy sector. The company acquired a 10 per cent stake in MCT in February 2010 and, earlier this month, announced it was setting up a new division to focus on marine energy
research and development. Michael Axmann, chief financial officer of the newly founded Solar & Hydro division, said the company would now "actively shape the commercialisation process of innovative marine current power plants."
Marine energy
It is estimated that globally, power from waves and tides could generate 800 terrawatt-hours (TWh) of
renewable energy per annum – the equivalent of between three and four per cent of power consumption worldwide. The Carbon Trust estimates the UK could capture almost a quarter of that market by 2050, worth around £76 billion. Earlier this year, the Government pledged £20 million to develop tidal and wave technologies.
SeaGen
Bristol-based MCT is behind the SeaGen horizontal axis marine current turbine the first commercial tidal power station, in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough. Within the next month, it aims to launch investment prospectuses for its first two tidal arrays – an eight megawatts (MW) project in Kyle Rhea in Scotland and a 10 MW project in Anglesey Skerries in Wales.
In addition, MCT is planning to deploy a tidal system into the FORCE facility in Canada’s Bay of Fundy and has an approval for a lease from The Crown Estate to deploy a 100 MW tidal farm off Brough Ness, on the southernmost tip of the Orkney Islands in Scotland.
Alongside Siemens, the company’s principal corporate shareholders include EDF Energy, ESB International, and Guernsey Electricity.
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