Tide turns for power investors

Age
Monday 10/11/2008 Page: 3

IT IS being backed by one of Wall Street's giant financial institutions and has links to the British royal family, but many Victorians would be forgiven for knowing nothing about it, let alone that it is being done in their own backyard.

Tidal power has always been a source of natural energy, clean and green, but relatively expensive in terns of being operated on a large, commercial scale. But as governments grapple with the reality of climate change and go hunting for less greenhouse-intensive ways of meeting energy needs, this daily occurrence is being closely examined again.

Tidal power makes use of the kinetic energy of moving water through turbines to generate power in a similar way to wind farms using moving air. In May this year Atlantis Resources Corporation successfully completed the installation and grid connection of a relatively small 150-kilowatt, $1 million turbine named Nereus at San Remo, near Phillip Island. Atlantis chief executive Tim Cornelius says he is keen to put $6 Million of turbines off Victoria's coastline and several more in Western Australia.

"There is so much resource," he said. "We're looking to install the world's largest tidal turbine in Western Australia next year, but there are also strong currents around the heads of Port Phillip Bay and off Queenscliff." Two months ago US investment bank Morgan Stanley became the company's biggest shareholder, taking a 49% stake following Atlantis' takeover of its tidal power project.

"Clean tech is a major bullish space even in spite of the prevailing economic conditions," Mr Cornelius said. "People see clean tech as the next big investment space. "Traditionally tidal would be the paradigm of the utilities space, but now you are looking at the major private equity houses, the oil and gas players.

All these guys are wanting to come on board and they are not talking in a small way, they want 200 to 300-megawatt projects." While the technology is still in development around the world, countries such as South Korea and China are involved in small-scale tidal projects. The technology is also expected to form part of US president-elect Barack Obama's $150 billion alternative energy fund.

Atlantis is also pushing ahead with opening a computer data centre in Scotland which could be powered by tidal energy. Discussions are under way for the excess energy to be used to warm Mey Selections' greenhouses, Prince Charles' organic food business. Mr Cornelius said he wanted to work with the federal and state governments in expanding tidal power in Australia.

Emma Tyner, a spokeswoman for Energy Minister Peter Batchelor, said funding under the Victorian Government's Energy Technology Innovation Strategy would soon be available. "Companies wanting to invest in tidal power will be entitled to apply for a grant," she said.

Link www.atlantisresourcescorporation.com