Wave energy generation company Laminaria has raised €2 million from new investors, QBIC II and PMV, and existing investor CEIP, with the funds to be used to further support Laminaria’s wave energy generation technology and initiate a full-scale demonstration project at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.
Laminaria successfully tested a 1 in 5 scale energy producing version of its wave device in the North Sea in 2015.
Proving survivability in extreme storm conditions is a key focus of LAMWEC, an OCEANERA-NET funded project led by Laminaria to upscale its technology to 200kW and ready it for deployment at EMEC. Laminaria has also successfully levered support via the MaRINET2 call, allowing access to Plymouth University’s tank test facilities allowing further control optimization, and via the Interreg NWE funded FORESEA programme, partly supporting the full scale test programme at EMEC.
“After delivering proof of concept with the North Sea test campaign in 2015, demonstrating a grid connected device in the turbulent Scottish waters is the next very exciting step for Laminaria” said Steven Nauwelaerts, CEO of Laminaria. “The testing and development campaigns to date have given confidence to QBIC II, PMV and CEIP to invest in Laminaria’s future and support the next stage of the technologies progress.”
“Laminaria has the potential to be a game-changer in the ocean energy field. The company has a clear technology development and product roadmap to become a provider of renewable energy products and services at a competitive cost in the long term”, added Roald Borré, Head of PMV’s Equity Investment team. “This has attracted us to support the company.”
“Laminaria is a great example of a second generation technology platform that has the potential to have a vital impact on the renewable wave energy landscape. We are happy to support the Laminaria team in realizing this ambition, together with a strong syndicate of investors”, commented Sofie Baeten, managing partner of QBIC II.
”We first teamed up with Laminaria in 2014 at the very earliest stages of proof of concept and are convinced the unique characteristics of the Laminaria will deliver a competitive marine renewable energy technology”, added Peter De Smet, director of CEIP.
