Scottish green-energy technology company Pelamis Wave Power (PWP) said yesterday its founder, Richard Yemm, had become chief executive.
Mr Yemm, the firm’s commercial director, took over the helm from Per Hornung Pedersen at the start of the month.
A spokesman for Edinburgh-based PWP said: “All businesses require certain steering and input at different stages of development.
“The Pelamis board feels the time is right to utilise Richard Yemm’s extensive skills and experience within the marine renewables sector to help take the company forward and move it on to the next phase of its development.”
Having founded PWP in 1998, Mr Yemm has spent the past 15 years developing and commercialising its Pelamis wave-energy machines. In 2011, he was recognised for outstanding contribution to the industry by Scottish Renewables (SR) and he was further honoured with a Saltire Prize Medal at SE’s annual conference last year.
PWP boasts a string of firsts for Scotland’s growing renewable-energy sector. It counts among its achievements the first electricity generated by waves for the national grid, the first export order for Scottish wave-energy technology and the first sales within the UK to utilities.
Mr Pederson, who had led the company since September 2011, will remain as an adviser to PWP’s board.
Chairwoman Gina Domanig said: “I would like to thank Per Pedersen for his contribution to Pelamis Wave Power over the past 18 months.
“He has taken the company up to the next level and positioned it for its next stage of development to service the array orders we expect in the next few years. I am delighted that Richard has accepted to take over as CEO; he has proven his ability to lead the company successfully and been instrumental in driving our technology and the sector forward.
“The Pelamis machine continues to advance strongly and we are pleased with the continued support from our customers. Looking ahead, the ETI (Energy Technologies Institute) project that is enabling us to accelerate development of the P2e machine is something we are all very excited about as it will truly anchor Pelamis as the wave power solution for the future”.
P2e is the latest version of the Pelamis machines, which are tested in partnership with various companies at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.
PWP is also working with ETI on a £1.4million project to reduce the costs involved in generating electricity from the waves.
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