WAVE-ENERGY firm Pelamis Wave Power is confident of signing up a new strategic partner to “take it to the next level” in less than a year.
New chief executive Per Hornung Pedersen said the Edinburgh firm was “at the edge” of being the first company to break through into commercial production.
Pelamis, which marked a year of its P2 wave energy device being grid-connected in Orkney waters last week, said earlier this year it was looking for an injection of new cash to gear up for growth.
But it is now looking for a partner, ideally a Scottish business operating globally, and Mr Pederson said he expected to strike a year within a year.
He added: “It is very exciting. I see marine wave-energy as the next wave in renewable-energy and Pelamis is at the forefront of that.
“We have developed these devices but going large-scale requires a completely different set up and skills, and also a completely different level of financial model.
“This is no longer a venture; it will evolve in to a global supplier of wave machines.”
Mr Pedersen said the firm was anticipating orders for a number of wave-energy projects using Pelamis machines which would add up to 170 megawatts of capacity – a single machine is currently rated at 750 kilowatts.
Pelamis, which was the first to sell devices to utility firms, is currently testing two of its second generation P2 devices, owned by E.ON and ScottishPower Renewables, at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.
Mr Pedersen said: “When I see where the others are, they still have a long way to go.
“Pelamis has sold units that are operating to two substantial utilities and a third is on its way.
“There are plans that add up to an interesting number of Pelamis machines, and in the next three or four years more will come through.”
One future project could involve Aegir, a joint-venture with Swedish utility Vattenfall, which has consent for the first wave-power array off Shetland.
Read The Press and Journal on Wednesday for a special report into how Orkney as the centre of the marine renewables industry.