Joint Venture with Development Agency of Normandy

RNS Number : 5593F

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited

30 October 2018

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

30 October 2018

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited

("SAE" "Atlantis" or the "Company")

Europe's largest planned Tidal Power Project targeted to commence construction in 2021

Joint Venture Agreement with AD NORMANDIE DÉVELOPPEMENT AD Normandie and the regional investment fund NORMANDIE PARTICIPATIONS to develop a multi hundred-megawatt tidal stream project in Raz Blanchard, Normandie

SIMEC Atlantis Energy, a world leading developer of tidal energy projects, announces the formation of a joint venture company with Development Agency for Normandy (AD Normandy), the regional agency for economic development in Normandy and regional investment fund Normandie Participations, for the purpose of developing a large-scale project in Raz Blanchard, Normandie.

The joint venture company, Normandie Hydrolienne, will establish an operational presence in Normandy and Atlantis will hold a majority stake.

Normandie Hydrolienne has been established with the intention of eventually harnessing up to 2GW of power from the Alderney Race, the eight-mile strait that runs between Alderney and La Hague, France, as well as more than 1GW of resource from adjacent concessions under the control of the States of Alderney.

Combined, Normandie Hydrolienne has the potential to provide more power than the Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station in Somerset, England and at a lower cost.

The administrator for all required consents for deployment, operation and construction for tidal power in France is ADEME and the team built within Normandie Hydrolienne looks forward to working with ADEME to seek to secure all of the necessary consents required to build out a tidal power project of scale in Normandy.

The administrator for all required consents for deployment, operation and construction for tidal power in Alderney is the Alderney Commission and whilst no commercial negotiations have commenced with the States of Alderney at this time, Normandie Hydrolienne looks forward to being afforded the opportunity engage in constructive dialogue with the States of Alderney to harness the considerable natural resource surrounding the island.

Project Highlights

The proposed Raz Blanchard project to be developed by Normandie Hydrolienne has aspirations to:

·	Investigate the techno-economic feasibility of a multi-hundred-megawatt tidal energy project to be located in Raz Blanchard initially which could be expanded into an even larger project making use of all of the unexploited resource present in The Alderney Race;
·	Determine if it is possible to deliver energy profitably at a price that is less than the current offshore wind feed in tariff of €150/MWh (for projects to be delivered between 2021-23);
·	Prepare an application for consent to build a multi-hundred-megawatt tidal energy project in Raz Blanchard and work closely with ADEME and all relevant government ministries to obtain all relevant approvals;
·	Seek to build a demonstration array in Raz Blanchard array using AR2000, 2MW horizontal axis turbines which will be built in France. The timing of commissioning of the demonstration array will depend on consenting, permitting and financing;
·	Have a full multi-hundred-megawatt array online by 2024 using AR2000 turbines.

Normandie Hydrolienne will be incorporated in Normandy where it will immediately establish a commercial presence and commence work on identifying a suitable site for turbine assembly, production and commissioning in Normandy.

Tim Cornelius, CEO of SIMEC Atlantis, commented:

"Raz Blanchard is sitting on a huge amount of renewable, predictable energy and we wish to bring our project development, financing and power production expertise to help the region of Normandie create jobs and attract a substantial amount of investment into the Region.  Our techno-economic feasibility study plans for the delivery of an initial 1GW of operational capacity by 2025, which could be quickly expanded to 2GW by 2027, at a Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) competitive with offshore wind farms currently in construction in France.

"Raz Blanchard will be delivered in stages to allow the supply chain to grow in line with our expansion plans. We look forward to working with ADEME, RTE, AD Normandy and Normandie Participations to make tidal energy a reality in Normandy."

Hervé Morin, Président de la Région Normandie commented:

Hervé Morin, President of Région Normandie, commented: "The Region of Normandie is blessed with huge tidal resource and has always been supporting the tidal industry, through investments on the port of Cherbourg, on R&D activities, and by facilitating the link between the training sector, the industry and the local supply chain. We have spent a lot of time, energy and money to foster the development of a clean, predictable energy that we believe is an amazing opportunity for our region. It is time for Normandie to become a pioneer in seeking to economically exploit this abundant source of energy and to once again show its commitment to the deployment of blue energy solutions. SIMEC Atlantis has an unparalleled record of delivering tidal energy projects and we look forward to making use of their experience to bring investment, collaboration and job creation to the region."

Enquiries: SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited	Via FTI Consulting
Tim Cornelius, Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Dagley, Chief Financial Officer
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Rick Thompson Richard Salmond David Porter
Macquarie Capital (Europe) Limited (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Nick Stamp
FTI Consulting (Media Relations)	[phone] [e-mail]
Ben Brewerton Alex Beagley James Styles

Notes to Editors

SIMEC Atlantis Energy is the global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy projects with a diverse portfolio of more than 1,000 megawatts in various stages of development. This includes a 77% stake in the world's largest tidal stream power project, MeyGen, and the conversion of the 220MW Uskmouth Power Station.

In 2017 we entered into a strategic partnership with SIMEC, a member of the GFG Alliance, to convert the Uskmouth Power Plant to use an end-of-waste energy pellet as fuel. The plant is expected to enter commercial operations in 2020 and will sell its power to GFG Alliance companies under two 20-year power purchase agreements. A successful conversion will tackle the pressing issue of non-recyclable waste in the UK and will form the blue-print for other large-scale conversion projects across the globe.

We intend this to be the first of a number of acquisitions aiming to transform SIMEC Atlantis into a diversified energy Company of scale, owning development and generating assets across the sustainable energy spectrum in Europe, Asia and Australia, complementing our existing UK pipeline.

 

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