Aquamarine Power secures £7 million new funding and ongoing commitment from shareholders
27 Sep 11
Wave energy company Aquamarine Power took another major step
towards the commercialisation of its Oyster technology with the
announcement today of £7 million of new funding and a
commitment of further investment in the company from its existing
shareholders over the next two years.
The company has closed a funding round of £7 million comprising
£3 million each from major shareholders SSE Venture Capital, the
ventures unit of SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy), and ABB, the
multinational power and automation company, together with a further
£1 million from Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government's
enterprise agency, via the Scottish Investment Bank.
In addition, Aquamarine Power's existing major shareholders
(SSE, ABB and Scottish Enterprise) are working together to develop
a further funding package of £18 million to take the company to
commercialisation in 2014.
Today's announcement was made by Scotland's First Minister Alex
Salmond MSP during his opening address at the Scottish Low Carbon
Investment Conference, held in Edinburgh.
The First Minister said:
"In Scotland we have shown that where the public sector provides
the right conditions and works strategically with industry, that
investment and jobs follow. This has been evident in several
sectors, including in marine energy, which will make an important
contribution to us achieving our 2020 target to generate the
equivalent of 100% of electricity demand from renewables.
That is why I am delighted to announce that Aquamarine Power, one
of Scotland's great green energy success stories, is today
celebrating a further investment of £7 million to help it take
another step towards the commercialisation of its Oyster wave
energy technology. This is great news for Scotland's world-leading
wave power industry and a clear signal to the wider energy and
investment community that marine technologies can be compelling
investment propositions."
The news follows the announcement earlier this month of a £3.4
million loan from Barclays to Aquamarine Power to part-finance the
completion of a 2.4MW Oyster array, located at the European Marine
Energy Centre (EMEC), Orkney - the first deal of its kind in the
sector.
This latest funding round sends a strong signal to the market to
encourage investment in the growing marine energy sector. Recent
analysis by the Carbon Trust predicts that a thriving marine energy
sector could generate up to £76 billion to the UK economy by 2050,
supporting over 68,000 UK jobs. Their report 'Accelerating marine
energy' determines the UK's best marine energy sites could generate
electricity at costs comparable with nuclear and onshore wind by
2025.