The announcement was made as Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond MSP officially opened the company’s new premises in Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh. The £11 million of new funds comprise £8 million (€9.5 million) from ABB, one of the world’s leading power and automation technology companies, and £3 million (€3.6 million) from Aquamarine Power’s existing shareholders, which include SSE Venture Capital, the ventures unit of Scottish and Southern Energy.
The investment is a major achievement for the Edinburgh-based firm and marks a significant endorsement of the company’s Oyster wave energy technology. “This is a game-changing moment for our company and for the UK’s marine energy industry,” says Aquamarine Power CEO Martin McAdam.
“ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies and they have taken a strategic decision to invest in Oyster technology. Through working together ABB will gain an early-mover advantage in our wave energy technology, whilst we will be able to access ABB’s technical, research and engineering expertise and utilise their global supply chain network,” McAdam went on to say.
The investment in Aquamarine Power was made by ABB Group’s technology investment arm, ABB Technology Ventures. ABB is a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. It specialises in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.
"Wave energy is primed to become an important part of the world's renewable energy portfolio,” said Brice Koch, head of ABB Marketing and Customer Solutions, which oversees the company’s renewable energy initiatives among other activities. "This investment reflects our belief in its technical viability, and our confidence in Aquamarine Power’s technology and its management team.”
The first demonstration-scale Oyster was successfully deployed at sea at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney (Scotland) and was officially launched by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond MP, MSP in November 2009 when it began producing power to the National Grid to power homes in Orkney and beyond. Oyster's performance is now being monitored and the results from the testing will provide a basis for the design of the next-generation commercial-scale Oyster 2.
Alongside its technology development, Aquamarine Power offers a wave farm site development service to support the growth of Oyster. The company’s innovative computer modelling system allows it to identify and develop the best sites for wave energy production around the globe.
In a ground-breaking development for the marine energy sector this year, Aquamarine Power has also entered into a strategic alliance with SSE Renewables to co-develop up to 1,000MW of Oyster sites. The joint venture partnership is currently developing a 2 MW demonstration site for 2011, to be expanded to 10 MW in 2012 and 200 MW thereafter. This partnership represents by far the largest commitment to date in the marine energy industry, by any major utility.
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