By Renewable Energy Focus staff

The two companies have also signed a strategic agreement enabling them to combine their marine engineering strengths in the tidal energy market.

DCNS has already lent its support to OpenHydro for the delivery of its next major tidal energy project for Électricité de France (EDF), where OpenHydro will supply and install four tidal turbines off the Paimpol-Bréhat (Côtes d’Armor) coast in Brittany to create a first grid-connected tidal farm.

Frédéric Le Lidec, Director of DCNS’ Marine Renewable Energy Incubator, says: “DCNS will support OpenHydro to promote and construct tidal turbine farms by making available technical and industrial resources.”

Commenting on the agreement, Brendan Gilmore, Chairman, OpenHydro, adds: “DCNS has a tremendous heritage of working in the marine environment and is one of the world’s foremost marine engineering companies. The directors together with our major shareholders believe that this investment supports and enhances OpenHydro’s development plans and are unanimously recommending its acceptance.”

DCNS is exploring the entire spectrum of marine renewable energy technologies from floating offshore wind farms and marine turbines to ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and wave energy.