ABB has invested about USD13m in Aquamarine Power, a Scottish company that has developed technology to convert energy captured from waves near shore into clean, usable electricity.
ABB Technology Ventures, the company’s venture capital arm, made the investment in a funding round that also included a USD4.8m investment from SSE Venture Capital, the venture capital unit of Scottish and Southern Energy, and other investors.
The investment gives ABB access to another renewable energy technology and provides an entry into the emerging marine energy market.
Aquamarine’s Oyster wave power device consists of a hinged mechanical flap connected to the nearshore seabed that pipes high-pressure water to an onshore turbine for power generation.
In November 2009, the first full-scale demonstrator Oyster began producing power at the European Marine Energy Center based in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Once commercialised, Oyster wave power devices could be deployed in farms rated at 100 megawatts or more.
