Simec Atlantis and GE Power Build Strategic Partnership to Develop Tidal Stream Application at Commercial Scale

GE’s Power Conversion business is recently chosen by SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited (Atlantis) as their preferred supplier to deliver the electrical systems that will power the world’s largest tidal stream turbine for the MeyGen tidal development. The agreement marks a long-term relationship and should enable both companies to promote their technologies leading to full-scale arrays installation that is set to harness marine energy at commercial scale.

Located in the Pentland Firth, north of Scotland, the MeyGen project is the only commercial multi-turbine array to have commenced construction. It has been generating power into the U.K. grid for over a year. The recent contract between the two companies will advance the MeyGen development into its second phase, known as Project Stroma, adding another 6MW of power generation capacity.

GE’s Power Conversion business will provide the tidal turbine generators, the power converters for conversion and smoothing of the irregular power before transmitting to the grid. GE has already started working with Atlantis de-risking the overall system using its extensive electrical systems knowledge and capability.

“We are excited to partner with GE to deliver the MeyGen tidal project. We strongly believe that the project has the potential to provide home-grown transformation of the U.K. energy market and will redefine what the world can expect from renewable tidal energy,” said Drew Blaxland, director of turbine and engineering services, Atlantis.

As one of the leading providers of power electronics and rotating electrical machines for the power industry, GE’s system engineering capability and the ability to leverage vast experience in renewables, especially in the wind and the tidal stream sectors, made the company an ideal partner to deliver the Stroma project.

“This is a major step forward towards large-scale tidal energy production, which makes the MeyGen tidal stream application a pathfinder for the future of tidal energy for the U.K. and around the world. We are committed to doing our part in innovating green energy to meet growing cleaner energy demands,” said Gagan Sood, CEO of industry, power, water and wind, GE’s Power Conversion business.

“There is in total 300,000 gigawatts of untapped tidal energy hidden under the waters — a potential that is simply too big to be ignored. Breaking through the barriers of innovation within marine power, the pioneering MeyGen project is a prime example of what advanced technology could deliver,” said Azeez Mohammed, CEO of GE’s Power Conversion business.

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