SIMEC Atlantis signs EUR 1m grant agreement

(Sharecast News) - Sustainable energy generation company and technology developer SIMEC Atlantis has signed a grant agreement with EASME for €1m, to support its turbine development programme, it announced on Wednesday.The AIM-traded firm said it was joined in receiving the grant by supply chain partner Asturfeito SAU.On 20 October, Atlantis announced its plans to enhance the existing 6MW MeyGen project.It explained that the grant would support the innovations required to take the MeyGen project enhancement forward, with a specific focus on the turbine upgrades needed to utilise the subsea hub and shared export cable. "The AR1500 turbine installed at the MeyGen project in 2017 marked the first commercial scale turbine installed in a tidal array," said SIMEC Atlantis Energy director of turbine and engineering services Drew Blaxland."Following this successful deployment and record breaking operation of the AR1500 turbine we now look to the future and where opportunities to reduce the LCOE exist."This grant agreement and support from the Sustainable Blue Economy call allows us to accelerate one of our key LCOE cost reduction initiatives."Ricardo Rodriguez, general manager of Asturfeito SAU, added that the project represented a "great opportunity" for the company to enter a "promising" renewable energy sector, partnering with "key player" SIMEC Atlantis."By providing our experience in subsea, oil & gas and offshore wind from the design stage, and using our capability to manufacture, integrate and test complex assemblies, we can support the development of cost effective turbines."