A Scottish renewables firm testing a wave power device on Orkney has gone into administration after failing to find a financial backer.
The board of Pelamis Wave Power, whose “sea snake” energy generator is undergoing tests at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), said it had “reluctantly” called in administrators “to assess the options for securing the future for the business and employees of Pelamis”.
In a statement the company added that its directors “have been unable to secure the additional funding required for further development of the company’s market leading wave energy technology”.
The Edinburgh-based firm had raised some £45million to fund the development of its offshore wave energy converters since it was founded in 1998 and was actively seeking a strategic partner to take the device into commercial production.
In June the two Pelamis P2 machines being tested at Emec’s Billia Croo wave test site hit a milestone 10,000th hour of grid connected operations.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it was a “sad day” but added that its belief in the future success of wave energy was “undiminished”.
She said: “Clearly the news that PWP has gone into administration is a matter of real regret. Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Government have been working closely with the company and its shareholders to try and find a way forward and help support the company in its current form.
“Early stage technologies such as this can be difficult, but the development of wave energy has been blighted by the uncertainty facing the energy sector more widely, following reforms of the UK’s electricity market. Our belief in the future success of wave energy is undiminished.”
Neil Kermode, managing director of Emec, said: “Emec is saddened to hear that its oldest customer has gone into administration.
“We have known many of the Pelamis team for years and all of us at Emec are dismayed by this announcement. As a test site we have seen the clever, heroic, innovative work they have done to bring an idea to reality over the last decade.
“As a Scottish world leader Pelamis have been one of the icons of the marine renewables industry, so we are absolutely gutted at this setback.
“It is all the more galling when we know that marine energy has the potential to be a major supplier of power to the UK. But just like anybody who has been to sea, we know how hard it is out there, and trying to build a new power source was never going to be easy.
“But, all the developers we have on our test sites have been showing year on year how drive, ingenuity, skill and bloody minded determination can overcome seemingly insurmountable problems; and overcome them safely.
“Today’s announcement is undoubtedly a big setback in the mission to learn how to harvest energy from the sea, but the prize is still there. The waves will keep pounding into the Orkney coastline and the world is still using precious and irreplaceable fossil fuels at an increasing rate. We know marine energy will have its day. It just looks a bit harder tonight.”
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