£10 MILLION SUCCESSFULLY RAISED AT FIRST CLOSE OF FUNDRAISING
21 Sep 2009
Highlights
- £10 million first funding round to progress Oyster offshore testing
- Unique near shore Oyster wave energy device already installed at EMEC ahead of grid connection and sea trials
- First fully commissioned commercially available wave farm scheduled for 2014
- Joint venture agreement in place with Airtricity, to develop up to 1GW of marine energy sites by 2020
- Vast untapped wave energy resource with better reliability than solar or wind power
Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power, commented:
“Raising substantial funds in these exceptionally difficult market conditions is an incredible achievement for Aquamarine.
“It proves that there is considerable investor appetite for renewable energy companies. Aquamarine has a great team in place with the technological and commercial know-how to take Oyster all the way through to the finishing line.
“There will be winners and losers along the way as technologies compete for market share and Oyster has all the right ingredients to be one of the winners – an amazing piece of UK engineering which is one of the best wave devices out there.
“We have a strong shareholder base and our existing investors which include Scottish and Southern Energy and Sigma Capital plc have been extremely supportive of our strategy and the fundraising.”
For further information, contact:
Buchanan Communications
Diane Stewart
0131 226 6150
Carrie Clement
0131 226 4427
Aquamarine Power raises £10 million at first close of fundraising
Wave energy developer, Aquamarine Power, announces that it has successfully closed the first round of its fundraising to raise £10 million from investors based in the UK and Ireland.
This follows the announcement last month that a full scale demonstrator of Aquamarine’s Oyster wave energy converter has now been successfully deployed at its testing berth at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, on schedule and within forecast costs. Work is currently ongoing to connect Oyster to sub-sea pipelines which will deliver high pressure fresh water to an onshore turbine. It is scheduled to begin generating power to enable full scale offshore testing to begin later this year. Testing is expected to take up to two years.
The proceeds of the fundraising will be used to fund the testing programme and for general working capital purposes.
Aquamarine has a total funding requirement of approximately £50 million to take Oyster through to commercialisation. This will be raised in stages, with a second fundraising round due to commence shortly. Aquamarine expects to have a fully commissioned commercially available wave farm in place by 2014.
The key strength of Oyster is the simplicity of its design. There are minimal moving parts and all electrical components are onshore, making it robust enough to withstand the rigours of Scotland’s harsh seas. The device is also designed for deployment near shore in depths of around 10 to 12 metres; which means it is easy to access and will also capture power efficiently in the smallest of seas.
A commercial farm of just 20 devices (15MW) could provide clean renewable energy to a town of 9,000 homes. Oyster has already demonstrated that it can produce electricity on a commercial scale during onshore testing at the New and Renewable Energy Centre, near Newcastle.
Aquamarine already has an agreement in place with Airtricity, the renewable energy division of Scottish and Southern Energy to develop up to 1,000MW of marine energy sites by 2020 using Oyster technology.
Marine energy is a vast resource. It is estimated that 21.5GW of wave and tidal energy could be generated from Scottish waters - enough to meet around half of Scotland’s energy demands. Scotland also accounts for 25% of Europe’s tidal resource and 10% of Europe’s wave resource. It has significant advantages over other methods of renewable energy such as wind and solar power as it is more predictable.
Aquamarine’s senior management team includes Chief Executive Officer, Martin McAdam, who founded renewable energy provider Airtricity’s US operations, which was subsequently sold to E.On for $1.2bn in 2007, and Matthias Haag, former General Manager at Shell WindEnergy. The company was founded in 2005 by leading wave energy developer and Aquamarine director Allan Thomson.
Noble acted as financial adviser to the fundraising.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
Aquamarine Power
- The Oyster system consists of a hinged flap connected to the seabed at around 10m depth. Each passing wave moves the flap which drives a hydraulic piston to deliver high pressure water to an onshore turbine which generates electricity.
- Aquamarine Power’s specialist technical advisors include wave energy pioneers Professor Trevor Whittaker, head of the award-winning wave power research group at Queen’s University, Belfast, and Professor Stephen Salter, creator of the ‘Salter Duck’.
- Aquamarine Power has won numerous national and international awards for innovation in the renewable energy sector including ‘Emerging Technology Promoter of the Year’, (Global Renewable Energy Awards 2008) and ‘Innovator Award 2009’ (British Renewable Energy Awards 2009).
- In 2007 Aquamarine Power joined forces with Scottish and Southern Energy subsidiary, Renewable Technology Ventures (RTVL), securing a £6.3m investment from SSE and a further £1.5m from Sigma Capital Group plc.
- Aquamarine Power has received significant funding and support from Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Technology Strategy Board, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Scottish Government.
- Oyster is a registered trade mark of Aquamarine Power.
Marine resources
- The marine energy industry could provide as many as 12,500 jobs, contributing £2.5 billion to the UK economy by 2020.
