Tidal power firm Atlantis nets big investor

Tidal power firm Atlantis, which expects to start producing electricity from its flagship project in the Pentland Firth, has struck a partnership deal with an infrastructure investor to accelerate development in Scotland.

Tim Cornelius.

Under the agreement London-based Equitix, which has over £1.7 billion of funds under management, will acquire at least 25 per cent of each of the project vehicles set up for Atlantis’s schemes when they reach financial close.

In the next two years alone Atlantis expects almost £500 million of capital to be committed for construction of the company’s Scottish portfolio. The figure includes £51m already secured for the current construction of the first phase of the MeyGen project in the Pentland Firm, which is scheduled to produce first power this year.

Tim Cornelius, chief executive of Edinburgh-based Atlantis, said: “This agreement is an important step for us in engaging a partner with both vital experience of large infrastructure projects and access to extensive capital, coupled with a desire to work with us to accelerate the further development of the UK’s tidal power industry.

“We are very excited to be working with Equitix on a range of fronts.”

Nick Parker, founding director of Equitix, said: “We are delighted to be entering into this partnership agreement with Atlantis, the clear market-leader in the tidal energy industry, which secures access to a pipeline of primary investment opportunities and has tremendous growth potential in the UK.”