Scheduled to run from 2014, the programme will facilitate the design, installation and operation of Atlantis Resources' 1.5MW AR1500 tidal energy turbines in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, off the north coast of Scotland. The site will be supported by DHI, Royal HaskoningDHV and the University of Edinburgh.

Tim Cornelius, CEO of Atlantis Resources, said the award will help to "catalyse the industry’s development, providing a credible and robust transition pathway from single turbine demonstration units, to the deployment of multi-hundred turbine arrays in Europe and across the wider international market.”

The European Commission's funding comes on top of he £12 million Atlantis Resources has raised through its recent initial public offering. According to Cornelius, it also means that the business is in a strong financial position to deliver its projects. "The capital raised through IPO will go towards the delivery of the first stage of MeyGen, but will also fund the detailed design of the AR1500 turbine with Lockheed Martin and our AR1000 demonstrator project in China," he explained.