Applied Superconductors has just signed a £3.6m contract with a group of three investors – Octopus Ventures, OCAS Ventures and IP Group plc after a busy six months.
As well as this week’s contract, earlier this year Applied Superconductor (AS) secured a contract with one of the UK’s biggest energy suppliers – CE Electric UK. Also, last week the renewable energy specialist secured a £4m contract with Rolls Royce and the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). ETI is a public-private partnership between six global industrial companies and the UK government.
AS’s forte is the design and development of technology that protects low voltage energy generation sources (renewable energy sources) from power overloads. The merging of high voltage electricity and low voltage electricity on the grid is problematic and can cause overloads and power failures. This has led to shortcomings in the government’s plan to construct a national ‘Smart Grid’.
Luke Hakes, of AS investor Octopus Ventures, said: “Not only is our support [from so many investors] a major vote of confidence, it also enables the AS team to develop the company to meet the ambitions we all have for it.”
Nick Edgar, investment manager at IP Group plc said: “AS’s product range represents a real breakthrough in its field – reducing risk, increasing safety and extending the lifespan of existing technologies and infrastructures. It has huge cost and carbon reduction potential and it is fantastic to be able to support the development of this innovative company here in the North East.”
George Archer
