The company’s trophy case then grew a little more crowded later in the evening as MCT co-founder and technical director Peter Fraenkel received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering work on tidal turbines.
Reflecting on the MCT’s double honours, Fraenkel said he was “very pleasing to have our progress recognised by our peers in the tidal industry”.
“MCT has achieved so much since it was formed ten years ago but we recognise, along with other key players in the sector, that there are many challenges still to overcome if the UK is to reap the economic and environmental benefits of tidal energy,” he continued.
“MCT has been in the vanguard of the sector for many years and we are determined to maintain our leadership and play our part in building a strong and vibrant tidal industry that can contribute to the UK economy and export its technologies and know-how across the globe,” Fraenkel said.
MCT 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.
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 Basin Pulp & Power to deploy a single SeaGen system in Canada’s Bay of Fundy.
Previous honours for the company include it being voted the world’s top tidal energy company in The Guardian/Clean Tech Global 100 Survey in 2009, and its being awarded Renewable Energy Developer of the Year in the UK Renewable Energy Association Annual Awards.
This year’s prize was awarded for its success at being the only tidal-stream energy developer in the world to deliver significant electrical energy into the grid.
SeaGen, the company’s 1.2 MW tidal turbine located in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough, has delivered over two and a half million kWh of power since March this year when operating restrictions were partly relaxed and night-time operation was first permitted by the regulatory authorities.
In September, the company announced that it would partner ESB International in taking forward plans to develop a tidal energy farm of up to 100 MW off the Antrim (Northern Ireland) coast.
The awards were voted by delegates to the Tidal Today Summit Conference held in London last week. The Summit was attended by more than 300 people from the UK and overseas.
During the Summit proceedings, MCT provided two presentations, one on the technology by Peter Fraenkel and one on the environmental issues relating to getting projects consented, by MCTs Project Manager, David Ainsworth.
There were also several specialised panel discussions which additionally involved MCT’s Managing Director Martin Wright as well as Fraenkel and Ainsworth.
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