A wave power company has secured new investment to speed up the commercial rollout of its technology.
Mocean Energy has raised £730,000 in equity funding to help advance the design of its Blue Star wave machine and drive its adoption in subsea oil and gas.
Last year, the company successfully trialled its Blue X prototype at the European Wave Energy Centre in Orkney and is currently collaborating with partners to advance a demonstrator project, called Renewables for Subsea Power, to show how the technology can be coupled with underwater energy storage to provide reliable low carbon power to subsea equipment and autonomous underwater vehicles.
They now plan to test this system at sea this year.
The Edinburgh-based firm has raised the money from existing investors, led by angel syndicate Equity Gap, together with University of Edinburgh in-house venture investment fund Old College Capital, and Scottish Enterprise.
Mocean Energy managing director Cameron McNatt said: “This year we’ll start fabricating Blue Star 10 – a 10 kW machine based around the Blue X design which will begin commercial trials in 2023.
“In parallel, we are developing our next-generation Blue Star 20, a 20 kW machine based on a new optimised geometry, which will include solar panels and a novel direct drive generator, with trials and rollout targeted for 2024-25.
“Both products are aimed at opportunities in the oil and gas energy transition, defence, offshore wind, and ocean science markets where they can be used to provide power to remote subsea equipment, robotics, and monitoring systems.”
The company said it has seen increasing interest from the oil and gas sector and has opened a dedicated office in Aberdeen to meet customer demand.
The new funds follow an £862,000 seed raise in 2020, comprising £612,000 in equity funding plus a £250,000 grant from UK Government innovation agency Innovate UK.
Kerry Sharp, director of growth investments at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Bold and ambitious low carbon technology companies like Mocean Energy are fundamental to Scotland’s just transition to a net zero emission economy.
“Scottish Enterprise is pleased that our ongoing support to the team at Mocean is helping them to scale up and explore their international aspirations, and we hope this most recent investment will see Mocean move ever closer to fully commercialising their innovative wave power technology.”
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