SIMEC Atlantis launches up to GBP 7m green bond offer

SIMEC Atlantis Energy Ltd (LON:SAE) on Tuesday announced the formal launch of a five-year bond offer through Abundance Investment’s regulated green peer-to-peer investment platform, looking to raise up to GBP 7 million (USD 8.5m/EUR 7.6m).

This is the third such offer Atlantis makes through Abundance, with the prior two raising close to GBP 10 million in total. The new investment on offer is on similar terms as the previous ones. The bond has a coupon of 8%, payable semi-annually, and matures in 2024.

The offer is seen to close on or before October 31, 2019.

Atlantis said in a statement it intends to use the proceeds to progress the conversion of the former Uskmouth coal-fired power station in Wales to run on waste-derived fuel and to develop a tidal energy project in the Raz Blanchard, off the Normandy coast of France.

The Uskmouth project near Newport is nearing the next phase of its conversion -- large-scale combustion testing and “return to service” inspections. If those activities are concluded successfully, Atlantis will be able to initiate generation from the converted power station in 2021, it said.

As per the Raz Blanchard project, Atlantis is preparing to start the design and consent work on developing an array of four turbines. According to the company, the Normandy authorities are supportive of the tidal opportunities in local waters.

“The size of the tidal resource combined with strong support from Europe for marine energy creates the ideal conditions for large scale arrays in the Raz Blanchard. We believe there is a pathway to development of 1 GW of installed capacity in the medium term,” said CEO Tim Cornelius.

Meanwhile, the company plans to add up to two new and larger turbines at the site of its flagship tidal energy project MeyGen. At present, four turbines operate there and they have produced some 9 GWh of electricity so far this year. The ultimate goal is for this project to one day reach 398 MW of power generating capacity.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.217/EUR 1.087)

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