Client News- Marine Current Turbines wins Sustainable Ireland Award

Marine Current Turbines has been recognised at the Sustainable Ireland Awards 2010 for making the ‘Best Use of Renewable Energy Sources.’ The Award acknowledged the success of the company’s SeaGen tidal technology, which has been operating in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough since 2008.

The award, sponsored by NWP Recycling, was handed over to MCT’s co-founder and Technical Director, Peter Fraenkel, at a ceremony held at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast (September 15th) where the keynote speaker was Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister, Edwin Poots.

The independent judging panel was impressed with MCT’s SeaGen project in Strangford Lough where it has scored a world first, using innovative technology to harness sufficient energy from the tides to power hundreds of homes all year round. “To say that it has taken a lot of time and effort, not to mention inventiveness and ingenuity would be an understatement, but the company clearly had an abundance of belief, know-how and drive to reach its goal,” commented the judges.

This was the sixth year of the Energy, Environmental & Waste Management awards, organised by the Hillsborough based publishers of Sustainable Ireland magazine, 4SquareMedia, to celebrate the contribution industry makes to the environment and to sustainability.

Picture of MCT’s Technical Director (Peter Fraenkel) receiving the Award is available from Taylor Keogh Communications – 020 3170 8465.

About Marine Current Turbines:

1. Marine Current Turbines (www.marineturbines.com) is based in Bristol, England. The company was established in 2000 and its principal corporate shareholders include BankInvest, Carbon Trust Investments, EDF Energy, ESB International, Guernsey Electricity, High Tide and Siemens Energy.

2. In September 2009, MCT was ranked the world’s top tidal energy company in The Guardian/Clean Tech Global 100 Survey and in June 2009 won Renewable Energy Developer of the Year in the UK Renewable Energy Association Annual Awards.

3. MCT’s 1.2MW SeaGen was deployed in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough in April 2008; it has the capacity to generate power for the equivalent of about 1500 homes. It works in principle much like an “underwater windmill” with the rotors driven by the power of the tidal currents rather than the wind. The SeaGen turbine is subject to a rigorous monitoring programme imposed under its licensing conditions to ensure it does not threaten the marine life of Strangford Lough where it is located.

4. SeaGen is accredited by OFGEM as a UK power station and so is a recipient of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs).

5. Since February 2008, MCT has partnered RWE npower renewables on plans to develop a 10MW tidal farm in waters off Anglesey, north Wales and is working with Minas Bay Pulp & Paper to deploy a single SeaGen system in Canada’s Bay of Fundy. In September 2010, the company announced that it would partner ESB International in taking forward plans to develop a tidal energy farm of up to 100MW off the Antrim (Northern Ireland) coast.

6. In March 2010, MCT secured approval for a lease from The Crown Estate to deploy its SeaGen tidal current technology off Brough Ness, on the southern most tip of the Orkney Islands (South Ronaldsay) and north east of John O’Groats. The company plans to have its first phase of SeaGen tidal turbines deployed there during 2017 with the whole scheme operational by 2020.

For further information:

Marine Current Turbines (www.marineturbines.com)

Paul Taylor (Taylor Keogh Communications)

Tel: 020 3170 8465

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Client News-Marine Current Turbines and ESBI enter into agreement to develop major tidal energy project in Northern Ireland

ESB International (ESBI) has entered an agreement with tidal energy company Marine Current Turbines (MCT) to develop an initial phase of a 100MW tidal energy project off the Antrim coast in Northern Ireland.

ESBI and MCT will work together to submit a proposal to the forthcoming Marine Leasing Round in Northern Ireland to secure an Agreement for Lease from The Crown Estate to commence formal consenting of the project. If successful, and subject to the achievement of consent, the initial phase of the project, which will use the MCT SeaGen device, could be in operation by 2018. The ESBI/MCT project will assist Northern Ireland in achieving its marine renewable energy targets as outlined in the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment’s Strategic Action Plan which calls for 300MW of tidal energy by 2020.

SeaGen is the largest and most powerful tidal stream turbine in the world and the only one that is regularly generating electrcitiy for customers, having been accredited by OFGEM, the UK industry regulator, as an “official” power station. The award-winning 1.2MW turbine has been operating in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough since April 2008 and last month (August) achieved another operational milestone by delivering its 2 millionth kWh of power to the grid. Thanks to Strangford being an exceptionally energetic location, SeaGen regularly produces as much electricity as an average off-shore wind turbine of double the rated power. This power is already being sold by ESB’s retail electricity supply business, ESB Independent Energy, to customers in Northern Ireland.

Safeguarding the environment is a key issue and ESBI is preparing an environmental scoping report on the project as an initial step in undertaking a full environmental impact assessment. In order to gain a thorough understanding of the tidal potential, ESBI has also undertaken tidal resource measurements off the Antrim coast over the summer months. This data is currently being analysed and it is planned to undertake further surveys in the coming months.

ESB Chief Executive, Padraig McManus, said ESB's strategy to 2020 involves focusing on sustainable and renewable energies. "We look forward to working with MCT on this exciting new project. Our aim is to use our experience and technical strength to support the development of a viable ocean energy industry in Ireland and this project is an important step in realising that goal", he said.

Martin Wright, Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines said "This agreement underlines the success to date of the SeaGen project in Strangford Lough but importantly the real and growing commercial interest in tidal energy. Our agreement with ESBI, which has been a valued shareholder in MCT for 2½ years, confirms MCT's tidal technology at being in the forefront in the race to harness the power of tides. We are pleased that ESBI has chosen MCT to develop the initial phase of this project."

Notes to Editors

About ESB

ESB has a corporate target to develop 150MW of ocean energy in Ireland by 2020 and the proposed tidal project off the Antrim Coast is a key project in delivering this target. ESB's retail subsidiary, ESB Independent Energy, already supplies tidal energy to its customers in Northern Ireland through its purchase of the electricity output from the SeaGen tidal facility in Strangford Lough. ESB is one of the first utilities in the world to provide tidal energy to its customers.

The Board of ESB approved a strategic framework with a €22 billion investment programme to 2020. The main focus of the framework is the sustainable and responsible use of natural resources, leading to the halving of its carbon emissions within 12 years and attainment of a carbon net-zero position by 2035. About half of the total €22 billion investment package will be devoted to renewables through direct investments in renewable energy projects and initiatives supporting sustainability such as smart metering and smart networks.

By 2020, ESB will be producing one-third of its electricity from renewable generation, delivering over 1,400MW of wind generation (with over 100MW already installed), and exploiting the potential of wave, tidal and biomass resources. ESB Networks will invest €11 billion in vital infrastructure to facilitate the development of up to 6,000MW of wind power on the island of Ireland.

www.esb.ie www.esbi.ie

About Marine Current Turbines

Marine Current Turbines Ltd (www.marineturbines.com) is based in Bristol, England. The company was established in 2000 and its principal corporate shareholders include BankInvest, Carbon Trust Investments, EDF Energy, ESB International, Guernsey Electricity, High Tide and Siemens Energy. The company is chaired by Paul Lester, the former Chief Executive of VT Group plc.

In September 2009, MCT was ranked the world’s top tidal energy company in The Guardian/Clean Tech Global 100 Survey and in June 2009 won Renewable Energy Developer of the Year in the UK Renewable Energy Association Annual Awards.

MCT’s 1.2MW SeaGen was deployed in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough in April 2008; it has the capacity to generate electricity for the equivalent of about 1500 homes and has the equivalent in energy output as a 2.5MW wind turbine. SeaGen works in principle much like an “underwater windmill” with the rotors driven by the power of the tidal currents rather than the wind. The SeaGen turbine is subject to a rigorous monitoring programme imposed under its licensing conditions to ensure it does not threaten the marine life of Strangford Lough where it is located.

MCT is working with RWE npower renewables to develop a 10MW tidal farm off Anglesey by 2013/2014 and with Minas Bay Pulp & Paper to deploy a single SeaGen system in Canada’s Bay of Fundy. In March 2010, MCT secured approval for a lease from The Crown Estate to deploy its SeaGen tidal current technology off Brough Ness, on the southern most tip of the Orkney Islands (South Ronaldsay) and north east of John O’Groats. The company plans to have its first phase of SeaGen tidal turbines deployed there during 2017 with the whole scheme operational by 2020.

TAYLOR KEOGH RECRUITING PR ACCOUNT MANAGER TO JOIN TEAM

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