Published in: 2011 - A Review of Cleantech Equity Deals, January 2012

There was plenty of news flow in the marine energy sector during 2011, with test devices being deployed and licences being awarded. Governments around the world are backing this sector.

The year began with the news in January that the UK Technology Strategy Board had awarded funding of over £2.5 million for three R&D projects, in wave and tidal stream energy technologies, to Bauer Renewables Ltd, Pelamis Wave Power Ltd and Marine Current Turbines Ltd. And on the other side of the world, Langlee secured financing of NZ$312,000 from the New Zealand Government’s Marine Energy Deployment Fund for a Stewart Island project.

First published in Cleantech magazine 2011 Issue 3. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd

• Abengoa of Spain has linked up with Ireland’s Wavebob to develop Wavebob’s 1MW wave energy device. The partners also aim to assess potential wave energy locations around the world. Wavebob investors include Sustainable Energy Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, BVP Investments, the CEO of G24 Innovations, Chevron and Vattenfall. Vattenfall has a joint venture with Wavebob to develop a demonstration-scale wave power project off the coast of Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland.

• Australia’s Carnegie Wave Energy has secured funding from the Irish government to assess potential project sites in the country. Carnegie plans to establish a 5MW commercial-scale project in Ireland.

• Marine Current Turbines (MCT) has secured a lease from the Crown Estate to develop an 8MW tidal array at Kyle Rhea, a strait of water between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland. The project is expected to cost £40 million and is scheduled for completion in 2014. Separately, MCT is developing a 10MW project, with seven MCT turbines, off the coast of Anglesey in Wales at a cost of £70 million. MCT is backed by Siemens, Carbon Trust Investments, EDF, ESB and BankInvest.

• Tidal Energy is building a demonstration project at Ramsey Sound, off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales. The project, which will deploy the DeltaStream 1.2MW tidal energy device, is being funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The DeltaStream is a three horizontal axis turbine device, mounted on a triangular frame which sits on the sea bed.

• Atlantis Resources has raised £3.7 million in funding from undisclosed investors, to deploy and test its 1MW AK 1000 tidal turbine at the European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland. Atlantis is developing a 50MW project in India, in partnership with Gujarat Power. In the UK it owns a 10% stake in MeyGen (in partnership with Morgan Stanley and International Power), which has secured a lease to develop a 400MW project off the coast of northern Scotland. Investors in Atlantis include Statkraft and Morgan Stanley.

Michael McSherry discusses the Global Marine Alliance (GMA) Collaborative Network, which focuses on wave and tidal energy

See also -

Interview with Linda Jameson of Invest Northern Ireland

First published in Cleantech magazine, May/June 2009. Copyright Cleantech Investor 2009.

Marine mix with offshore wind expected to achieve savings of £1bn

At its wave and tidal conference in Bath, Redpoint Energy presented the conclusions of a report which was commissioned by the BWEA to review the optimal mix between offshore wind and other marine renewables. Nick Screen of Redpoint Energy concluded that, the optimal mix in order to overcome energy spill from the intermittency associated with wind, the optimal mix is likely to be 40% of energy from marine (a mix of tidal and wave), with 60% of offshore energy derived from wind. The report anticipates potential savings of £1 billion annually in the UK if a 40% mix of wave and tidal energy is incorporated into offshore renewable generation capacity by 2030.

READ THE REPORT HERE