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Wave energy firm gets €230,000 funding
06 September 2009 By Gordon Smith
Cork company Ocean Energy has secured funding of €230,000 from Sustainable Energy Ireland.
The funding boost follows successful completion of trials to test the company’s wave power technology at an offshore site in Galway Bay. It brings to €700,000 the total amount of SEI funding secured by the company over an eight-year period. Ocean Energy plans to raise €20 million in first-round funding within three to five years, and has appointed AIB Corporate Finance and Matheson Ormsby Prentice as advisers.
‘‘There is a pretty slow lead-in period in terms of development. Now, our strategy requires a further injection of funds," said John Keating, commercial director, Ocean. Ocean Power’s wave power units, similar to the quarterscale prototype tested in Galway Bay, have the capacity to generate two megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,400 homes annually.
Keating said the success of the trials would allow the company to begin commercialising the product for use in the Irish market. Once established here, Ocean Energy plans to sell to overseas markets, including Scotland, Spain, Portugal and eventually the US. ‘‘The US is very much a key market. We want to be a part of that ‘new order’," said Keating.
‘‘Ultimately, the true test of whether your technology works is when you go into the open water. We have proven our capacity to produce energy and we have minimised the risk of the harsh offshore environment through design efficiency."
In addition to SEI, Ocean Energy is supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Marine Institute. Keating, and the company’s other principals - chief executive John McCarthy and operations director Michael Whelan have ploughed €5 million into the venture.
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