Aquamarine Power Seeks Funds for Commercial Output, Chief Says
Aquamarine Power Ltd., a Scottish marine energy company, is seeking a further 30 million pounds ($48 million) from investors over the next three years to make its machines commercial.
“We expect to start shipping machines in 2014,” Chief Executive Officer Martin McAdam said by telephone on July 13.
The Edinburgh-based company raised 50 million pounds from backers including ABB Ltd. (ABBN), the world’s largest maker of power- transmission gear, and Scottish & Southern Energy Plc (SSE), since it was founded in 2005. Last year, Aquamarine and SSE Renewables won a lease to generate 200 megawatts of electricity from the waters near the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland.
With a quarter of Europe’s tidal energy and a 10th of its wave generation resources, Scotland is set to become “the Saudi Arabia of marine power,” First Minister Alex Salmond has said. Scotland already has become a global center for testing tidal and wave power equipment, attracting companies including Germany’s EON AG and the local unit of Iberdrola SA, the world’s largest renewable energy producer.
Aquamarine’s Oyster 800, launched last week, can generate 0.8 megawatt of hydro-electric wave energy, the company said. Aquamarine estimates that 20 Oyster 800 devices would generate enough power for as many as 15,000 homes.
Renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, marine, biomass and energy from waste, currently make up about 30 percent of Scotland’s electricity need. It aims to increase that to 100 percent by 2020. The goal for marine is 1,600 megawatts.
The 26-meter wide machine looks like a giant barn door hinged at the bottom and is designed to operate near to the shore line in a typical water depth of 14 meters, McAdam said. Each machine currently costs 10 million pounds which should be cut to 3 million pounds in the next five years, he said.
“The total size of the market is about 64,000 machines and we are aiming for 3 percent of that by 2020,” he said.
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Tim Farrand at tfarrand@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge in London at Ckeatinge@bloomberg.net
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