Marine Energy Wales welcomes the news that North Wales’ tidal stream array demonstration project, Morlais, has signed up three new international turbine developers.
The news of French firms SABELLA and HydroQuest as well as Spanish developer Magallanes planning to deploy their devices on a commercial scale at the Crown Estate-designated zone off the coast of Anglesey, North Wales, is another welcome boost to the marine energy sector in Wales.
Jess Hooper, Marine Energy Wales said:
“This inward investment and commitment from international technology developers to Morlais highlights the significant potential that marine renewable energy brings to largely rural economies of areas such as Anglesey.
“We have already seen a number of international wave and tidal developers relocate their headquarters to Wales where our supply chain continues to prove it has the capability, capacity and ambition to deliver marine energy projects. We look forward to working alongside Menter Môn to support Sabella, HydroQuest and Magallanes in their move to Morlais.”
Gerallt Llewelyn Jones, a Director with Morlais said:
“These agreements with three new developers over recent weeks shows that there is incredible confidence in our project and we are delighted to be working with SABELLA, HydroQuest and Magallanes. They are well-respected developers and will bring with them significant expertise when we move to the second phase of Morlais subject to securing relevant consent. It is an exciting time to be part of the marine energy sector with an ever-increasing focus on climate change and looking at alternative means of generating electricity – at Morlais we are keen to play a key role.”
Morlais is run by social enterprise, Menter Môn and has the potential to become one of the largest tidal stream energy sites in the world. The first stage of the project, aims to secure consent for the development of the zone. The second stage will put the necessary infrastructure in place so that developers, including the three new partners can implement their devices at the site.
