OpenHydro signs major agreement with Alderney Renewable Energy

OpenHydro Group Ltd an Irish energy technology company whose business is the design and manufacture of marine turbines for generating renewable energy from tidal currents, has announced the signing of a major agreement with Alderney Renewable Energy Ltd for the supply of tidal turbines.

This agreement follows the recent installation of OpenHydro's Open-Centre Turbine at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), in Orkney, Scotland, and OpenHydro winning a global public tender from Nova Scotia Power, a Canadian Utility, for the deployment of Open-Centre Turbines in the Bay of Fundy.

OpenHydro also announced recently that it has been awarded €1.8m in grant support under the Scottish Executive's Wave and Tidal Energy Scheme for the deployment of a second turbine at EMEC.

Based in the Channel Islands, Alderney Renewable Energy holds exclusive rights to a major portion of the region's substantial tidal resources. As part of the contract, OpenHydro will install an array of its Open-Centre Turbines mounted on the sea bed in Alderney, silently and invisibly generating electricity. The investment in the deployment of the turbines will be several million Euros and the turbines are expected to be deployed in 2008/2009.

The tidal flows around Alderney are some of the strongest in the world and represent an enormous energy resource. It has been estimated that once fully developed, the area could generate 3 GigaWatts (GWs) of energy into Europe's electricity grid – powering over one million homes.

This project establishes a very strong partnership for the future development of energy projects between OpenHydro and Alderney Renewable Energy in the region.

Commenting on the agreement, James Ives, Chief Executive of OpenHydro, said: "OpenHydro and Alderney Renewable Energy share the common goal of generating large volumes of clean renewable energy from the oceans around us. We look forward to working with Alderney Renewable Energy on this and future tidal farm deployments."