Energy converter generates interest

Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power has successfully completed the first round of its £10m fundraising to advance the commercialisation of its Oyster wave energy converter.

The company’s Oyster device harnesses energy from the passing action of ocean waves and converts it to usable electricity. This is done using the group’s Oscillator technology, which pumps high-pressure water into a subsea pipeline and converts it to electrical power using hydro-electric generators.

Each Oyster device has a peak power of 300-600kW and a farm of 20 devices is expected to generate enough electricity to power 9,000 homes. Aquamarine has a total funding requirement of around £50m to commercialise its technology.

The group has already secured an agreement with Airtricity, the renewable energy division of Scottish and Southern Energy, to deploy Oyster technology in the development of up to 1GW of marine energy sites by 2020. A second fundraising round is due to commence shortly and the group said that it expects to have a fully commissioned commercially available wave farm in place by 2014.