Tidal energy company Atlantis Resources said the European Commission’s Climate Change Committee has approved the transfer of €17 million (US$ 19 million) in funding from the Kyle Rhea project to Atlantis’s MeyGen project.
The funding is for MeyGen Phase 1B, also known as Project Stroma and will accelerate the development of the MeyGen project, with this second phase targeted to reach financial close and commence construction during 2016.
The funding was originally awarded to the Kyle Rhea project, a tidal stream array project between the Isle of Skye and the west coast of Scotland, being developed by the Marine Current Turbines. MCT was acquired by Atlantis from Siemens AG in an all-share deal in July 2015.
Following completion of the MCT acquisition, Atlantis applied to the European Commission, with the assistance of the member state, Scotland, to have this funding transferred from the Kyle Rhea project to Project Stroma, which enables the funding to be retained for the benefit of a more advanced Scottish tidal energy project.
The first tranche of €10 million will be made available on 1 April 2016. The maximum funding available is €16,77 million. The funding comes from the NER 300 programme which supports innovative renewable energy technologies.