WAVE HARVESTER SEEKS BUILDER

EON Supplier Pelamis Looks for Industrial Player for Wave Farms
Louise Downing, November 25, 2011 (Bloomberg News)

"Pelamis Wave Power Ltd., a U.K. maker of ocean energy technology, is looking to partner with a ‘strong’ industrial company in the next year to help bring its technology to market and deliver on its projects…The company, venture capital-funded for about nine years…has hired Ernst & Young to facilitate…looking at industrial players across the globe…

"Energy from the waves and tides has the potential to meet as much as 20 percent of current U.K. electricity demand, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The government last month proposed boosting the number of [Renewable Obligation Certificates, or ROCs] on offer to marine energy developers from two to five…[making them] eligible to receive about 230 pounds ($387) a megawatt- hour…[which will help Pelamis find a partner by adding certainty and transparency]…"



"The most likely strategic investors in Pelamis would be large power engineering companies that have not already chosen a wave technology to back…[such as] Siemens AG (SIE), which is backing Marine Current Turbines Ltd. in tidal power; Areva SA, which has invested in solar and wind technology companies; and General Electric Co. (GE), which is a big player in wind turbines…

"Pelamis is currently testing two machines at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, northern Scotland, for its utility customers ScottishPower Renewables Ltd., part of Iberdrola SA, and EON AG. It’s also established a joint venture with Vattenfall AB to build a 10-megawatt project off the Shetland Islands…It has the technology, the sites and the customers though it doesn’t yet have the capability and capacity to deliver…"