Under the Agreement, the two companies will enter into a 50:50 joint venture to develop wave and tidal energy sites in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Work on the development of the first two sites has already started, with plans to roll out further sites over the next three years.
'This contract is the biggest deal in the history of marine energy,' said Martin McAdam, Chief Executive of Aquamarine. 'Fully consented offshore wind farm sites are selling to owner operators at anywhere between £150,000 and £400,000 per MW consented, giving a strong indication of the large potential value of this deal if all 1000MW of sites receive full consents and grid connection.'
The two companies' goal is to deliver marine energy sites suitable for deploying Aquamarine's technologies, including the Oyster Wave Energy Converter and the Neptune Tidal Device. The two companies will work together with stakeholders to select and develop the most promising sites to deliver local economic benefits, environmental protection and clean energy.
'Following the significant investments made by our parent company, SSE, in Aquamarine and its technology, this is the next logical step; to provide a route to market for their promising Oyster and Neptune technologies,' commented Stephen Wheeler, Airtricity's Director responsible for marine development. 'The agreement gives Airtricity a first option on sites Aquamarine develop, using its know-how and technology to identify and develop environmentally sensitive and profitable sites for the future. Aquamarine's technologies also have similarities with our experience in hydro-electric and off-shore wind development. We see marine energy making an increasingly important contribution to our growing portfolio of renewable energy generation plants.'
