Wave energy developer Aquamarine Power announced £11 million in new equity funding, led by engineering group ABB (NYSE: ABB).
Aquamarine said the funds will go towards the commercialization of its Oyster technology for havesting ocean energy.
The announcement was made as Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond MSP officially opened the company’s new premises in Elder Street, Edinburgh.
The new funds comprise £8 million from ABB, one of the world’s leading power and automation technology companies, and £3m from Aquamarine Power’s existing shareholders, which include SSE Venture Capital, the ventures unit of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE.L).
The investment is a major step for the Edinburgh-based firm.
“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.
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.
Collaborations like this are currently one of the only ways to invest in ocean energy. Ocean Power Technologies (Nasdaq: OPTT) is perhaps the only pure-play ocean energy company to choose from among renewable energy stocks.
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