Former Atkins chief executive appointed as non-executive chair on Swansea tidal lagoon power project
Former Atkins and Skanska boss Keith Clarke has been appointed as chair of the firm undertaking the 拢850m Swansea tidal lagoon power project.
Clarke was chief executive of consultant Atkins for eight years up to 2011, during which time he oversaw the firm鈥檚 involvement in building the 2012 London Olympic park.
Prior to that he was executive vice president of Skanska鈥檚 business in the Middle East.
He will take a non-executive role at Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc, which is currently shepherding the 拢850m project through the planning process.
The project entails building a 9.5km sea wall in the bay with turbines to capture the sea鈥檚 power. It will also include facilities for international sports events, education, arts and a 10km sea reef.
Atkins is lead designer on the project and is working with contractor Costain, turbine firm Alstom and technology firms GE, Andritz and Voith.
LDA Design is the masterplanner, with architect Faulkner Browns designing the international watersport & hatchery centre and Juice Architects designing the offshore visitor centre.
Construction of the lagoon is due to start in 2015.
Clarke said the project鈥檚 鈥渢ime had come鈥�. He added: 鈥淚t will set the standard for a new kind of energy infrastructure and has truly global implications. It is the right project at the right time for me and I am relishing the prospect of getting back into major project delivery and building a best-in-class team.鈥�
Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay, said: 鈥淜eith understands the challenges of building large infrastructure and the climate imperative to do so in a low carbon manner. And he has grown exceptional teams to achieve exceptional results. He鈥檒l be a huge asset for us.鈥�
He added that he wanted the project to 鈥渆stablish a blueprint for a series of tidal lagoons鈥� around the country.
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