Scottish renewables company Orbital Marine Power has secured multi-million funding to finance the ongoing operation of its landmark floating tidal turbine.
The 2MW turbine called the O2 is located in waters off Orkney in Scotland and has been exporting electricity to the UK grid for the past year.
It was the first vessel to be launched from a Dundee shipyard in 40 years and is capable of being deployed in multi-unit arrays to provide utility-scale energy with minimal visual impact.
Feature: How Orkney is turning the tides to renewables
This week’s funding milestone comes in two parts and will ensure the future operation of the O2. The first element is a £4m investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank, while the second is a £4m, 12-year debenture offer which has been funded by more than 1000 individual investors from Abundance Investment.
Orbital chief executive Andrew Scott said closing the operational funding “demonstrates strong institutional and public support for the company, our proven technology and our pioneering approach to tidal stream power”.
He added that tidal technology “has a vital role to play in delivering predictable energy as a complementary part of the broader clean energy transition”.
“Following today’s announcement, Orbital is well-placed to continue developing further projects, benefiting our wide-reaching UK supply chain.”
Mark Munro, executive director of Scottish National Investment Bank, said the bank’s investment in Orbital “aligns with our mission to support home-grown innovation and the just energy transition.
“The company’s unique and scalable approach to tidal stream energy has an important role to play in the journey towards net zero, and its focus on a domestic supply chain and strong Orkney heritage also has significant potential to benefit Scotland more broadly.”
Bruce Davis, joint managing director of Abundance Investment, said the company’s investors “are proud to have mobilized their money to support Orbital Marine Power in their quest to make tidal stream energy a key pillar of the UK energy sustainability and security. From its origins as a world beating record crowdfunding investment we look forward to helping to finance a future world beating industry.”
Why wave energy could be key to a stable green grid of the future
