Company type | Public Limited Company |
---|---|
LSE: SAE | |
ISIN | SG9999011118 |
Industry | Renewable energy |
Headquarters | |
Key people | Duncan Black (Chairman) Graham Reid (Chief Executive) |
Subsidiaries | MeyGen Holdings Limited Islay Tidal Power Limited Islay Holdings Limited Tidal Power Scotland Limited Atlantis Projects Pte Ltd Simec Uskmouth Power Limited |
Website | saerenewables |
SAE (formerly: SIMEC Atlantis Energy and previously Atlantis Resources) is a renewable energy company. It is incorporated in Singapore, but its operational headquarters are in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. [1] [2]
Initially, it was a developer of the tidal power turbines and projects, but after becoming a part of GFG Alliance it has expanded its business also to the waste-to-energy [3] and hydropower. [4] The tidal turbine development was split out to Proteus Marine Renewables in 2022.
The company was originally founded as Atlantis Energy Limited in Brisbane, Australia. In 2005, the company established a base in Singapore, where the company remains registered, however the head office was moved to Edinburgh in 2014. [5]
The company acquired the MeyGen project in November 2013, [5] described as Europe's largest tidal power project, located in the Pentland Firth, north of the Scottish mainland. [6]
In February 2014, Atlantis became the world's first tidal energy company to float on the London Stock Exchange's AIM sub-market and commenced construction on MeyGen. [7] On 20 February 2017, the company announced that it had completed the phase 1a of the Meygen project. This phase included the design, manufacture and deployment of four 1.5 MW turbines. [8] The project received £1.5 million Scottish Government grant in 2020. [9]
A number of strategic investments and acquisitions occurred in late 2015 and throughout 2016. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] SAE acquired the tidal turbine developer Marine Current Turbines from Siemens, including the SeaGen turbine in Strangford Lough, and a portfolio of six project sites. [15] SAE also acquired two other projects from ScottishPower Renewables, the 100 MW Ness of Duncansby site in the Pentland Firth to the east of the MeyGen project, and a 10 MW project in the Sound of Islay. [11] In 2016 the company decided to focus on the most developed sites, so returned the agreement for lease for two potential projects to the Crown Estate, one at Kylerhea between Skye and the Scottish mainland and one at Anglesey Skeries, North Wales. [16]
In 2017, GFG Alliance acquired 49.99% stake in the company in return of the coal-fired Uskmouth power station, which was to be converted to a 220 MW waste-to-energy plant. [3] [4] Consequently, Atlantis Resources was renamed SIMEC Atlantis Energy. [3] In early 2021 the planning was called-in by the Welsh Government for the development of Uskmouth power station, putting the project in doubt. The project was abandoned in April 2022. [17]
In 2019, SAE acquired the Scottish hydro developer Green Highland Renewables. [4]
In 2020, it created a subsidiary Atlantis Operations Japan, which will build a tidal turbine between the southern Japanese islands of Hisaka and Naru islands for Kyuden Mirai Energy. [18] The 500 kW AR500 turbine was built at the Nigg Energy Park, and shipped to Japan for installation. The turbine was reported to have produced 10 MWh of energy in the first days of operation in early February 2021. [19] The turbine was decommissioned in December 2023, and will be upgraded in Japan for redeployment in 2025. [20]
Also in 2020, SAE announced plans to develop a 160 MW Wyre tidal barrage on the River Wyre. [21] This would be in conjunction with Natural Energy Wyre Limited, who started developing the project in 2015. It is proposed the barrage would span the river between Fleetwood and Knott End, and would generate 90 MW of electricity. [22]
In October 2022, there was a management buyout of the Advanced Tidal Engineering and Services (ATES) division, along with the associated IP and staff, forming a new company called Proteus Marine Renewables. SAE remains a minority shareholder in the new company, with a 21% stake. Proteus Marine will continue to supply turbines to SAE, for MeyGen and other projects. [23] [24] [25] [26]
Atlantis has commercial and project development teams based in Edinburgh. Through its subsidiaries, the company is developing the 6 MW Meygen tidal turbine array in Pentland Firth, Scotland. [27]
In the cooperation with the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and the China Three Gorges Corporation, it helped to design the 500-kilowatt tidal-stream turbine which was installed between Putuoshan and Huludao islands in the Zhoushan archipelago, China. [28]
It had an operations base located at Nigg Energy Park in Invergordon and the turbine and engineering services division was located in Bristol. In Japan, it supplied the 500-kilowatt tidal-stream turbine which was between Hisaka and Naru. [18] In France, SIMEC Atlantis Energy held a 49% stake in Normandie Hydroliennes, the marine energy development company which is developing 12 MW tidal power project in Raz Blanchard. [29] All of these were transferred to Proteus Marine in October 2022. [24]
Atlantis developed and tested various different turbines, initially as Atlantis Energy, then Atlantis Resources, and later as SIMEC Atlantis. In 2022, Proteus Marine Renewables was formed from a management buyout of the Advanced Tidal Engineering and Services division of SIMEC Atlantis, and continues the turbine development.
In 2002, Atlantis Energy tested a 100 kW tidal power device called the "Aquanator" in the straight between San Remo, Victoria and Phillip Island. It was connected to the grid in September 2006. [30] Previously, a 5 kW version had been tested in the Clarence River. [31]
Atlantis Resources tested two "Nereus" turbines at San Remo, the 150 kW AN-150 and the 400 kW AN-400. [32] In May 2008, the Aquanator was replaced by the AN-150. [30] [33] In July 2008, the AN-400 (or Nereus II) turbine was tow-tested in an open ocean environment, reportedly with record power output and improved water-to-wire efficiency. [33] The San Remo site was then decommissioned in 2015. [30]
The Aquanator and Nereus devices consisted of a large number of straight Aquafoil blades mounted on a chain between two gearwheels, somewhat like a continuous track, but with the blades in the same plane as the wheels. They were designed for shallow water, around 25 metres (82 ft), and low current conditions. The Nereus turbine was 12 by 4 m (39 by 13 ft). [30] [33] [34] [35]
Atlantis also developed the "Solon" AS series, which was a ducted horizontal-axis axial turbine. In 2008, a 160 kW version was tested in Corio Bay. [31] In August 2008, the 500 kW AS-500 was tow-tested in Singaporean waters. [33] [34] In August 2009, the 1 MW "Solon-K" was announced, with the aim to deploy it the following year. [36] In August 2010, the AK-1000 was unveiled at the companies facilities in Invergordon, described at the time as the largest tidal turbine of its type, rated at 1 MW. Unconventionally, this turbine had two rotors mounted either end of a common shaft, designed to harness the ebb and flood tides. Each rotor was 18 m (59 ft) diameter with three blades. The turbine was mounted on a gravity base foundation that weighed 1,300 tonnes and was 22.5 m (74 ft) high. [37] By October 2010, the turbine had been installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, but developed a blade fault before it could be tested. Singapore based Tempco Manufacturing took responsibility for the fault. [38]
The following year, the 1 MW AR1000 was tested at EMEC. It was connected to the electricity grid in May 2011, and produced first power in July. [39] The turbine had a single three-bladed rotor, 18 m (59 ft) in diameter, and reached its rated power of 1 MW in a current of 2.65 m/s (5.15 kn; 5.9 mph). [40] It was expected to undergo two years of testing, [40] however an issue with a non-redundant medium-voltage component prevented further generation to the grid. [39] The turbine was removed in late November 2011 and transported to the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) in Blyth. There, it underwent testing on the 3 MW drive train testing facility, for accelerated life testing. [39]
In 2013, Atlantis Resources entered into a partnership with Lockheed Martin to develop and manufacture their next-generation turbine, the 1.5 MW AR1500 for use at the MeyGen project. [41] [42]
In January 2021, SIMEC Atlantis deployed a 0.5 MW AR500 tidal turbine in the Naru Strait in the Gotō island chain in southern Japan. The planed six-month test was extended to 11 months, with the turbine eventually being decommissioned in November. [43] The turbine was designed and manufactured at the Nigg Energy Park in Scotland, before being disassembled and shipped to Japan prior to installation. [44]
Also in 2021, SIMEC Atlantis announced they were ready to start construction of a 2 MW AR2000 turbine. This would include a novel variable pitch system developed in a European Union funded project. Two of these turbines were expected to be installed at the MeyGen project, [45] but this did not happen.
The Pentland Firth is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth.
Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods.
The production of renewable energy in Scotland is a topic that came to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European, and even global standards, with the most important potential sources being wind, wave, and tide. Renewables generate almost all of Scotland's electricity, mostly from the country's wind power.
Renewable energy in the United Kingdom contributes to production for electricity, heat, and transport.
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd. is a UKAS accredited test and research centre focused on wave and tidal power development, based in the Orkney Islands off the mainland of Scotland. The centre provides developers with the opportunity to test full-scale grid-connected prototype devices in wave and tidal conditions, at pre-consented test sites. EMEC also has sites for testing smaller-scale prototypes in more sheltered conditions.
A floating wind turbine is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where fixed-foundation turbines are not feasible. Floating wind farms have the potential to significantly increase the sea area available for offshore wind farms, especially in countries with limited shallow waters, such as Spain, Portugal, Japan, France and the United States' West Coast. Locating wind farms further offshore can also reduce visual pollution, provide better accommodation for fishing and shipping lanes, and reach stronger and more consistent winds.
SeaGen was the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream generator. It was four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world at the time of installation. It was decommissioned by SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited in summer 2019, having exported 11.6 GWh to the grid since 2008.
Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT), was a United Kingdom-based company that developed tidal stream generators, most notably the 1.2 MW SeaGen turbine. The company was bought by the German automation company, Siemens in 2012, who later sold the company to Atlantis Resources in 2015.
The Uskmouth power stations refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations at the mouth of the River Usk in the south-east of Newport, Wales.
Marine energy or marine power refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the world's oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy, or energy in motion. Some of this energy can be harnessed to generate electricity to power homes, transport and industries.
Aquamarine Power was a British wave energy company, founded in 2005 to commercialise the Oyster wave energy converter, a device to capture energy from near-shore waves. They tested two versions of the Oyster device at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.
A tidal stream generator, often referred to as a tidal energy converter (TEC), is a machine that extracts energy from moving masses of water, in particular tides, although the term is often used in reference to machines designed to extract energy from the run of a river or tidal estuarine sites. Certain types of these machines function very much like underwater wind turbines and are thus often referred to as tidal turbines. They were first conceived in the 1970s during the oil crisis.
The Saltire Prize, named after the flag of Scotland, was a national award for advances in the commercial development of marine energy.
Renewable energy in Taiwan contributed to 8.7% of national electricity generation as of end of 2013. The total installed capacity of renewable energy in Taiwan by the end of 2013 was 3.76 GW.
MeyGen is a tidal stream energy plant in the north of Scotland. The project is located in the Pentland Firth, specifically the Inner Sound between the Island of Stroma and the Scottish mainland.
Orbital Marine Power is a Scottish renewable energy company focused on the development and global deployment of floating tidal stream turbine technology. The company was founded in 2002, and as of 2024 has built and tested three different turbines.
In 2019, Wales generated 27% of its electricity consumption as renewable electricity, an increase from 19% in 2014. The Welsh Government set a target of 70% by 2030. In 2019, Wales was a net exporter of electricity. It produced 27.9 TWh of electricity while only consuming 14.7 TWh. The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European standards, with the core sources being wind, wave, and tidal. Wales has a long history of renewable energy: in the 1880s, the first house in Wales with electric lighting powered from its own hydro-electric power station was in Plas Tan y Bwlch, Gwynedd. In 1963, the Ffestiniog Power Station was constructed, providing a large scale generation of hydroelectricity, and in November 1973, the Centre for Alternative Technology was opened in Machynlleth.
Many tidal stream generators have been developed over the years to harness the power of tidal currents flowing around coastlines. These are also called tidal stream turbines (TST), tidal energy converters (TEC), or marine hydro-kinetic (MHK) generation. These turbines operate on a similar principle to wind turbines, but are designed to work in a fluid approximately 800 times more dense than air which is moving at a slower velocity. Note that tidal barrages or lagoons operate on a different principle, generating power by impounding the rising and falling tide.
Tidal power contributes a very small proportion of the electricity generation in the United Kingdom, but it could provide a meaningful amount of predictable renewable energy in future.