Atlantis targets planning loophole to boost tidal datacentre project

Tidal energy firm Atlantis Resources Corporation has identified a potential planning loophole that will allow it to increase the size of its proposed tidal-powered datacentre in Northern Scotland by 50 per cent, while also helping another tidal energy player to trial their technology.

The company recently announced plans for a 20MW zero-carbon datacentre in Scotland that is to be partly funded by investment banking giant Morgan Stanley.

It claimed that by powering the facility directly from two tidal turbines, it could avoid the decade long queue for grid connection that is dogging the development of renewable energy projects in the north of Scotland and have a commercially viable datacentre facility up and running as early as 2011.

However, the scale of the proposed datacentre was limited as a result of Crown Estate planning rules that mean demonstration tidal energy projects can only generate up to 10MW from each generator design that is being tested. Atlantis plans to test two different turbine designs at the Scottish facility, enabling it to generate 20MW of power, but it cannot get any extra licenses until the turbines have been successfully operational for two years.

These rules have made it difficult for tidal energy firms to deliver commercial-scale projects when testing their technologies, but now Atlantis thinks that it can bolster the commercial attractiveness of its datacentre project by inviting a rival tidal energy company to test a third turbine at the site.

The company is to advertise next week for a partner to join the project and it is hopeful that a third turbine will provide the project with a total of 30MW of energy, allowing it to significantly expand the proposed datacentre.

Dr James Mitchell, head of business development at Atlantis, said that working with another developer would also help drive the UK tidal energy industry forward, allowing a third party to effectively jump the queue for grid connection and demonstrate their technology at an earlier date.

"There are real hurdles that need to be overcome if we are to make the most of the UK's huge tidal resource, not the least of which is the 10-year queue for renewables schemes to connect to the grid in Northern Scotland," he said, adding that the company’s proposal to work alongside a third party would help overcome some of the challenges that the sector faces.

"Atlantis is committed to working with the rest of the industry to increase the pace of commercialisation and demonstrate that tidal energy can play a significant role in the future energy mix," he added.