Aquamarine Power
Encyclopedia
Aquamarine Power is a wave energy company, which was founded in 2005 to commercialise a wave energy device concept known as the Oyster wave energy converter. The company's head offices are based in Edinburgh
. The company has further operations in Orkney, Ireland
, Northern Ireland
and the USA.
(EMEC) on Orkney..
, in 2003. The team's research showed that key challenges to the success of wave energy devices were survivability, accessibility and cost-efficiency. Oyster was designed to overcome the identified challenges. The Queen's University, Belfast studies were co-funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Allan Thomson, who had previously founded and led the UK’s first commercial wave energy company, Wavegen
. In 2005, Allan Thomson founded Aquamarine Power to progress the commercialisation of the Oyster device. In 2007 Aquamarine Power joined forces with Scottish & Southern Energy subsidiary, Renewable Technology Ventures Limited(RTVL). In February 2009, Aquamarine Power and Queen's University, Belfast signed an agreement to extend their R&D partnership to 2014.
In February 2009, Aquamarine Power signed an agreement with renewable energy company Airtricity
, a subsidiary of Scottish & Southern Energy, to develop marine energy sites using the Oyster system.
Martin McAdam joined Aquamarine Power as Chief Executive Officer in August 2008 , Martin joined Aquamarine Power from wind energy developer Airtricity. At Airtricity Martin was responsible for the growth of the supply business and previous to that Martin was the founder and CEO of Airtricity’s North American operations prior to the sale of the company to E.On for £0.75bn in 2007. Martin was also responsible for the development of the 500MW on-shore Clyde Valley wind farm while working at Airtricity. A highly experienced business leader, Martin previously held a number of technical and management roles in the utility sector. Martin completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School in 2004 and holds a BE (Hons.) in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin . Martin is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce. Martin also sits on the council of CBI Scotland.
Richard Round, Chief Financial Officer:
Richard Round joined Aquamarine Power as Chief Finance Officer in March 2010
. Round joined Aquamarine from Novera Energy PLC, a renewable energy generators, recently acquired by Infinis Energy. Round’s previous roles include Finance Director of AIM-listed Cambrian Mining PLC and Anglo Asian Mining PLC, where he currently continues to sit on the board as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee. He also spent a number of years with Aberdeen-based oilfield logistics group Consolidated Supply Management and Scottish Resources Group. In these roles he had responsibilities for operations in the USA, Canada, Australia, the former Soviet Union and Latin America. A Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, Round began his career with British Coal in 1977.
Matthias Haag, Chief Operating Officer:
Matthias Haag joined Aquamarine Power as Chief Operating Officer in May 2008. Formerly General Manager of Projects with Shell WindEnergy, Matthias was responsible for major wind power projects in the UK, Netherlands and USA including the Dutch 36-turbine Offshore Windpark Egmond aan Zee. Previously, Matthias worked globally with Shell International in Oil & Gas, specialising in offshore installation and project management. As Lead Engineer and Contract Manager he was responsible for delivering the offshore pipeline network design for Sakhalin Energy. Matthias holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Darmstadt University in Germany.
Dr Sian George, Head of Commercial Development:
Sian joined Aquamarine Power in 2005. Sian has participated in policy formation at national and EU levels. Together with Lynn Vallance of the Scottish Government, Sian was co-chair of the Marine Energy Group. This group produced the Marine Energy Roadmap, a seminal report, informing Scottish Ministers of the way forward for the marine industry in Scotland. Sian serves on the board of the European Union Ocean Energy Association (EU-OEA). She was elected to president of the EU-OEA in November 2010 and commenced her term in January 2011.
who invested £2.7m with other historical investors making up the balance of £300k. The investors in the business include: ABB, SSE, Sigma Capital Group, Scottish Enterprise and others.
Professor of Coastal Engineering at Queen's University, Belfast and inventor of the Oyster concept is a specialist adviser to Aquamarine Power.
Stephen Salter
, wave energy pioneer and inventor of the Salter's Duck is a Specialist Advisor to Aquamarine Power.
2010
2009
2008
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. The company has further operations in Orkney, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and the USA.
Technology Development Status
In November 2009, the first full-scale, 315 kW, demonstrator Oyster began producing power when it was launched at the European Marine Energy CentreEuropean Marine Energy Centre
The European Marine Energy Centre is a research centre focusing on wave and tidal power development based in the Orkney Islands, UK. It claims to provide developers with the opportunity to test full-scale grid-connected prototype devices in unrivalled wave and tidal conditions...
(EMEC) on Orkney..
Company history
The Oyster concept originated from studies conducted by the wave power research team at Queen’s University, Belfast, led by Professor Trevor WhittakerTrevor Whittaker
Trevor Whittaker is Professor of Coastal Engineering at Queen's University, Belfast having been awarded a personal chair in 1993. He was elected a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002...
, in 2003. The team's research showed that key challenges to the success of wave energy devices were survivability, accessibility and cost-efficiency. Oyster was designed to overcome the identified challenges. The Queen's University, Belfast studies were co-funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Allan Thomson, who had previously founded and led the UK’s first commercial wave energy company, Wavegen
Wavegen
Voith Hydro Wavegen Limited is a wave energy company based in Inverness, Scotland. It was founded in 1990 by Allan Thomson.In 2000, Wavegen became the first company in the world to connect a commercial scale wave energy device to the grid on the Scottish island of Islay...
. In 2005, Allan Thomson founded Aquamarine Power to progress the commercialisation of the Oyster device. In 2007 Aquamarine Power joined forces with Scottish & Southern Energy subsidiary, Renewable Technology Ventures Limited(RTVL). In February 2009, Aquamarine Power and Queen's University, Belfast signed an agreement to extend their R&D partnership to 2014.
In February 2009, Aquamarine Power signed an agreement with renewable energy company Airtricity
Airtricity
Airtricity was founded in 1997 in the Republic of Ireland and now is a renewable energy company owned by Scottish and Southern Energy...
, a subsidiary of Scottish & Southern Energy, to develop marine energy sites using the Oyster system.
Management Team
Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer:Martin McAdam joined Aquamarine Power as Chief Executive Officer in August 2008 , Martin joined Aquamarine Power from wind energy developer Airtricity. At Airtricity Martin was responsible for the growth of the supply business and previous to that Martin was the founder and CEO of Airtricity’s North American operations prior to the sale of the company to E.On for £0.75bn in 2007. Martin was also responsible for the development of the 500MW on-shore Clyde Valley wind farm while working at Airtricity. A highly experienced business leader, Martin previously held a number of technical and management roles in the utility sector. Martin completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School in 2004 and holds a BE (Hons.) in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin . Martin is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce. Martin also sits on the council of CBI Scotland.
Richard Round, Chief Financial Officer:
Richard Round joined Aquamarine Power as Chief Finance Officer in March 2010
. Round joined Aquamarine from Novera Energy PLC, a renewable energy generators, recently acquired by Infinis Energy. Round’s previous roles include Finance Director of AIM-listed Cambrian Mining PLC and Anglo Asian Mining PLC, where he currently continues to sit on the board as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee. He also spent a number of years with Aberdeen-based oilfield logistics group Consolidated Supply Management and Scottish Resources Group. In these roles he had responsibilities for operations in the USA, Canada, Australia, the former Soviet Union and Latin America. A Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, Round began his career with British Coal in 1977.
Matthias Haag, Chief Operating Officer:
Matthias Haag joined Aquamarine Power as Chief Operating Officer in May 2008. Formerly General Manager of Projects with Shell WindEnergy, Matthias was responsible for major wind power projects in the UK, Netherlands and USA including the Dutch 36-turbine Offshore Windpark Egmond aan Zee. Previously, Matthias worked globally with Shell International in Oil & Gas, specialising in offshore installation and project management. As Lead Engineer and Contract Manager he was responsible for delivering the offshore pipeline network design for Sakhalin Energy. Matthias holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Darmstadt University in Germany.
Dr Sian George, Head of Commercial Development:
Sian joined Aquamarine Power in 2005. Sian has participated in policy formation at national and EU levels. Together with Lynn Vallance of the Scottish Government, Sian was co-chair of the Marine Energy Group. This group produced the Marine Energy Roadmap, a seminal report, informing Scottish Ministers of the way forward for the marine industry in Scotland. Sian serves on the board of the European Union Ocean Energy Association (EU-OEA). She was elected to president of the EU-OEA in November 2010 and commenced her term in January 2011.
Investors
In November 2009 Aquamarine Power announced an investment of £11m in the business. The principal investor during this investment round was ABB Group, the Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland who invested £8m. The other investors during the round included Scottish and Southern Energy SSESSE
-Computing:*Server-sent events, a technology to push content to web clients*Simple Sharing Extensions, a specification that extends RSS from unidirectional to bidirectional information flows*SPARQL Syntax Expressions*Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition...
who invested £2.7m with other historical investors making up the balance of £300k. The investors in the business include: ABB, SSE, Sigma Capital Group, Scottish Enterprise and others.
Advisors
Trevor WhittakerTrevor Whittaker
Trevor Whittaker is Professor of Coastal Engineering at Queen's University, Belfast having been awarded a personal chair in 1993. He was elected a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002...
Professor of Coastal Engineering at Queen's University, Belfast and inventor of the Oyster concept is a specialist adviser to Aquamarine Power.
Stephen Salter
Stephen Salter
Stephen Hugh Salter is Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Edinburgh and inventor of the eponymous Salter duck wave energy device...
, wave energy pioneer and inventor of the Salter's Duck is a Specialist Advisor to Aquamarine Power.
Awards
Aquamarine Power has won several awards:2010
- Listed on GlobalCleantech 100 list 2010
2009
- Innovator of the Year - Renewable Energy Association's British Renewable Energy Awards 2009
- Innovation Award for Energy - The Engineer Technology and Innovation Awards 2009
- Best Green Industry SME - Scottish Green Awards 2009
2008
- Emerging Technology Promoter of the Year - Ernst & YoungErnst & YoungErnst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
Euromoney Global Renewable Energy Awards 2008
External links
- Aquamarine Power http://www.aquamarinepower.com/
- Aquamarine Power on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/aquamarinepowerltd
- European Marine Energy Centre http://www.emec.org.uk
- Queen's University Belfast http://www.qub.ac.uk
- Scottish & Southern Energy http://www.scottish-southern.co.uk/SSEInternet/uploadedFiles/SSE_CaseStudy_AquaMarinePower.pdf