The Prefecture de la Manche has approved the transfer of the lease to develop a 12MW tidal power project in Raz Blanchard from Engie to Normandie Hydroliennes.
Normandie Hydroliennes – the marine energy development company set up between Simec Atlantis and its partners.
They include the Development Agency for Normandy, the regional investment fund Normandie Participations and local industrial group Efinor.
This represents the first stage of a potential multi-hundred-megawatt marine energy project in Raz Blanchard .
Normandie Hydroliennes has been working with ADEME and French government over the past 12 months to obtain approvals for the transfer.
Atlantis as the main shareholder is seeking to expand this collaboration into a larger tidal project in Normandy and Alderney territorial waters.
Normandie Hydroliennes has the long-term goal to harness up to 2GW of power from the Alderney Race, as well as more than 1GW of resource from adjacent concessions under the control of the States of Alderney.
Tim Cornelius , CEO of Simec Atlantis Energy, said:
“This will allow us to immediately progress with the development of one of the largest tidal power arrays in Europe.
“The territorial waters of Normandy have huge untapped tidal power resource and material progress can now be made in setting up the infrastructure and supply chain required in Normandy to deliver this €50 million plus project.
“This approval will allow us to get on with the task of delivering sustainable power to this region while also creating local jobs and attracting substantial investment in the area.
Normandie Hydrolienne should ensure that this array is the catalyst for the installation and delivery of at least 1GW of operational capacity in the Alderney Race, he said.
Cornelius also added that this could expand to 2GW with the right investment, government support and collaboration with developers from across France.