Tidal energy company hires 'the Jockweiler', Jim Forbes, for commercial clout

JIM Forbes, the energy veteran dubbed "the Jockweiler" during his reign at Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), has been appointed to the board of a pioneering tidal energy company.

Atlantis Resources, which wants to build a 30-megawatt project in the Pentland Firth to power a data centre, has hired Forbes as a non-executive, charged with ushering the firm from the drawing board to commercial projects.

Based in London and Sydney, Atlantis will test the world's largest tidal turbine in the rough waters off the Orkney Islands later this year.

Forbes, who will chair Atlantis' UK based technology and project origination arm, said the company was well placed to commercialise tidal power.

"Atlantis is well positioned to play an integral role in the development and delivery of marine renewable energy both globally and right here in the United Kingdom," he said.

An industry lifer, Forbes began his career with an apprenticeship with the South of Scotland Electricity Board. He eventually rose to chief executive of Scottish Hydro, where he was the architect of the 5 billion merger with Southern Electric in 1998, stepping down from SSE in 2002.

Atlantis chief executive Timothy Cornelius said Forbes' career in the industry gave him the knowledge to be a steward for the company's transition from a technology focus to developing major projects.

"Jim has had a lot of involvement in how large scale projects are rolled out and how big utilities think of them," Cornelius said.

"The industry is now accelerating more quickly than perhaps it was prepared for, and us bringing a Jim Forbes on board is probably a recognition of that.

"Traditionally the tidal power market has been the bastion of research and development, first we need to prove and then we roll out later. Atlantis is now the first company to be tackling the big issues," Cornelius said.