Aquamarine Power Ltd has signed a Development Agreement with Airtricity, the renewable energy development division of Scottish and Southern Energy, aimed at developing sites capable of hosting 1,000MW of marine energy by 2020. In announcing the deal this morning (23rd February) the company explained that it would enter into a 50:50 joint venture to develop wave and tidal energy sites in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Work on the development of the first two sites has already started, with plans to roll out further sites over the next three years.

The company explained that by using its in-house model of tidal and wave power resources around the coasts of UK and Ireland, it has identified several Gigawatts (GW) of promising sites.  To secure consent to develop marine energy capacity, high consideration must be given to local stakeholders, socio-economic impacts, environmental compatibility and other sea-users' needs.

Commenting on the deal Martin McAdam, Aquamarine's Chief Executive said: "This contract is the biggest deal in the history of marine energy. Fully consented offshore wind farm sites are selling to owner operators at anywhere between £150,000 and £400,000 per MW consented, giving a strong indication of the large potential value of this deal if all 1,000MW of sites receive full consents and grid connection."

Stephen Wheeler, Airtricity’s Director responsible for marine development added "Airtricity is committed to the renewable energy market.  Following the significant investments made by our parent company, Scottish and Southern Energy, in Aquamarine and their technology, this is the next logical step; to provide a route to market for their promising Oyster® and Neptune technologies.  The agreement gives Airtricity a first option on sites Aquamarine develop, using their know-how and technology to identify and develop environmentally sensitive and profitable sites for the future. Aquamarine’s technologies also have similarities with our experience in hydro-electric and off-shore wind.development. We see marine energy making an increasingly important contribution to our growing portfolio of renewable energy generation plants. "

The goal of the new project is to deliver marine energy sites suitable for deploying Aquamarine’s market-leading wave and tidal technologies, including the Oyster® Wave Energy Converter and the Neptune Tidal Device. The two companies will work together with stakeholders to select and develop the most promising sites to deliver local economic benefits, environmental protection and clean energy.

Aquamarine is, it says, simultaneously pursuing a similar contract for developments in Southern Europe.