The company has closed a funding round comprising £3m each from major shareholders SSE VentureCapital, the venture units of SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy), and ABB, the power and automation company, with £1m from Scottish Enterprise, via the Scottish Investment Bank. 

In addition, Aquamarine Power’s existing major shareholders (SSE, ABB and Scottish Enterprise) are working together to develop a further funding package of £18m to take the company to commercialisation in 2014.
 
The news follows the announcement earlier this month of a £3.4m loan  from Barclays to Aquamarine Power to part-finance the completion of a 2.4MW Oyster array, located at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Orkney – the first of its kind in the sector.

Recent analysis by the Carbon Trust predicts that a marine energy sector could generate up to £76bn to the UK economy by 2050, supporting over 68,000 UK jobs. Its report ‘Accelerating marine energy ’ determines the UK’s best marine energy sites could generate electricity at costs comparable with nuclear and onshore wind by 2025.

 Aquamarine Power CEO, Martin McAdam said: “We are still seeking new shareholders who can bring additional finance and technical expertise to our business by investing alongside our existing shareholders in future rounds. However this level of commitment frees us up to concentrate fully on the challenge of deploying Oyster technology to produce cost effective, reliable, clean energy from the sea. Our goal is to start delivering the first pre-commercial marine energy array in Scotland in 2014." 

L2R: Martin McAdam, Aquamarine Power and First Minister Alex Salmond. Courtsy  Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.