Wave energy developer, Aquamarine Power, has announced that it has successfully raised an additional £6m of funding.
This new generation of the device has a capacity of 800 kilowatts (kW) and is expected to deliver 250 percent more power than the original Oyster 1 with only a 50 percent increase in footprint. Oyster 1 has been undergoing sea trials at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney since November of last year and is connected to the National Grid.
This follows the recent unveiling of the design of its Oyster 2 device which will be built in Scotland later this year. The proceeds of the fundraising will be used to fund the procurement program and provide general working capital.
Aquamarine will begin deployment of Oyster 2, which consists of three flaps linked to a single onshore 2.4 MW hydro-electric turbine at EMEC in Summer 2011. Earlier this year Aquamarine Power secured an award from the Carbon Trust’s Marine Renewables Proving Fund (MRPF) to support the manufacture of Oyster 2.
In partnership with SSE Renewables, the company has already been successful in the Crown Estate leasing round, securing exclusive rights to develop the 200-megawatt (MW) Brough Head wave farm. This joint venture is the first site development within the agreement with SSE Renewables to jointly develop up to 1,000 MW of marine energy sites by 2020 using Oyster technology.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond officially launched Oyster 1 on November 20th 2009. Speaking at the launch, the First Minister said: “I’m delighted to see first-hand the full-scale Oyster now installed and operating offshore. This is a key milestone for Aquamarine Power and for Scotland’s marine renewables sector.”
