Photo of MeyGen tidal turbine (Courtesy of Simec Atlantis)

Simec Atlantis changes CEO

Simec Atlantis Energy has appointed Graham Reid as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a Director, while the outgoing CEO Tim Cornelius will take up a new role within the company.

MeyGen tidal turbine (Courtesy of Simec Atlantis)
Photo of MeyGen tidal turbine (Courtesy of Simec Atlantis)
MeyGen tidal turbine (Courtesy of Simec Atlantis)

The changes will be effective from 18 January 2021, and according to Simec Atlantis, Tim Cornelius has agreed to take up a new role as a Senior Adviser to the Group and will consequently resign his position as CEO, effective the same date.

Having delivered more than 5GW of wind, solar and storage projects in previous roles, Reid has been selected by the Board of Directors to build on the successful development history of the company and to use his considerable project management and delivery experience to steer Atlantis through the delivery phase of the Uskmouth Power Station conversion project, the build out of fuel production plants, the expansion of the MeyGen project and the development of further hydro asset opportunities.

In his new advisory position, Tim Cornelius will continue to support the Board and Company on a range of matters, including ongoing relationship management with key stakeholders, customers, and strategic partners.

Reid will receive an option award on joining, calculated with reference to the closing price on 8 January 2021. The company will provide further notification of the details of the award in due course, Simec Atlantis said.

John Neill, Atlantis Chairman, said: “Tim is an exceptional entrepreneur and I can understand why he wants to take the next steps in his career. On behalf of the board I would like to thank Tim for his contribution to the Company over the past 15 years and for agreeing to remain as a Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors and mentor to the leadership team.

We are pleased that we will continue to benefit from his domain knowledge, experience and relationships built up over many years and I would like to wish Tim every success in his future endeavours. I am delighted to welcome Graham Reid and congratulate him on his appointment as the incoming CEO of Atlantis”.

Reid is an experienced and highly capable CEO, leader and engineer, with extensive international experience in the energy and infrastructure space.

He was most recently CEO of RES Americas, and prior to that CEO of Arcadis Middle East, a member of Network Rail’s project delivery board for the London bridge station project and earlier in his career was the UK Managing Director and an Executive Board member of Hyder Consulting.

Graham Reid, incoming CEO, said: “I am delighted to be joining SIMEC Atlantis at such an exciting time in its growth trajectory. This is a unique opportunity to become part of an exceptional business delivering several first-in-class projects that will make meaningful contributions to a lower carbon economy”.

Tim Cornelius, outgoing CEO, said: “For more than 15 years, Atlantis has been a huge part of my life and I owe our investors, stakeholders, staff, current and former directors and the Chairman a debt of gratitude I will never be able to fully repay.  I am delighted to continue my involvement with the company as we enter the next exciting phase of our journey – from origination to construction and commissioning.

“Now is the right time to introduce new skills into our leadership team to ensure that we have the right mix of experience in place to deliver on all of our flagship projects and Graham is highly credentialed and vastly experienced in project management and successful project delivery.

“It has been privilege to be a part of the Atlantis journey so far and I very much look forward to being able to continue my association with the wonderful group of people who work there and the inspiring group of stakeholders who support them”.