Pelamis Wave Power

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Pelamis Wave Power
Founded 1998 (1998)
Headquarters Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Key people Richard Yemm (Director and Founder), Per Hornung Pedersen (CEO)
Products Wave energy converters
Website www.pelamiswave.com

Pelamis Wave Power designs and manufactures the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter – a technology that uses the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The company was established in 1998 and has offices and fabrication facilities in Leith Docks, Edinburgh, Scotland.

History

The company was founded in 1998 by Richard Yemm, Chris Retzler and David Pizer with the aim of commercialising the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter.[1] Originally named 'Ocean Power Delivery', the company changed its name in September 2007.[2]

In 2004 the company installed and tested their first full scale prototype at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland, becoming the first commercial scale, offshore, wave power machine to successfully generate electricity into the national grid.[3] A commercial order for three 750 kW machines followed this successful demonstration of the Pelamis technology, resulting in the installation of three Pelamis Wave Energy Converters in 2008, the Aguçadoura Wave Farm.[4] Located off the northwest coast of Portugal near Póvoa de Varzim the project was funded by Portuguese utility Enersis, at the time were owned by Australian global investment company Babcock & Brown. The farm first generated electricity in July 2008 but was taken offline in November 2008 at the same time as Babcock & Brown encountered financial difficulties.

In February 2009, Pelamis Wave Power secured an order from German utility company E.on for a new generation Pelamis Wave Energy Converter, termed the P2.[5] The machine was installed and grid connected for the first time at EMEC in October 2010, where it is now being tested.[6] An additional order for a P2 machine has been placed by Scottish Power Renewables in March 2010.[7]

Current projects under development include a joint project with Swedish utility Vattenfall to develop the Aegir wave farm off the coast of Shetland,[8] and three 50MW sites in the Pentland Firth area, resulting from The Crown Estate seabed leasing round in March 2010.[9]

In May 2011, the company announced that it was to make a number of redundancies. This followed the completion of the manufacture of its second P2 machine and a move into a testing and operations phase.[10][11]

Awards

Pelamis Wave Power has won a number of awards including:

2011

  • Scottish Renewables Green Energy Awards, Outstanding Contribution, Richard Yemm[12]
  • Scottish Renewables Green Energy Awards, Best Project, E.ON for the Pelamis P2 test programme[13]

2008

  • Guardian/Library House "CleanTech 100" list. Voted seventh in the inaugural Guardian/Library House, which showcased the best in European clean technology companies.[14]

2007

  • Ocean Energy Pioneer Technology Award, Energy Ocean, Hawaii
  • Ocean Energy Pioneer Company Award, Energy Ocean, Hawaii
  • Best Renewable Energy Company, British Renewable Energy Awards
  • Trophée de l’économie positive, HEC, Paris

2004

  • Tornado Insider Top 100 Europe

2003

  • Emerging Technology of the Year, Euromoney and Ernst & Young
  • Innovation Award, The Carbon Trust
  • Best Renewable Technology, Scottish Green Energy Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". pelamiswave.com. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  2. ↑ "New Name for Ocean Power Delivery" (PDF). pelamiswave.com. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  3. ↑ "Wave Site Activity". European Marine Energy Centre. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  4. ↑ Jah, Alok (25 September 2008). "Making waves: UK firm harnesses power of the sea ... in Portugal". The Guardian (London). 
  5. ↑ "E.ON on the crest of a wave". E.on. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  6. ↑ Pelamis Wave Power Website. "E.ON at EMEC". Retrieved 10 July 2011. 
  7. ↑ "ScottishPower Renewables Purchase Pelamis Wave Power Device". ScottishPowerRenewables.com. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  8. ↑ "Energy pairing on crest of a wave". news.bbc.co.uk. 16 December 2009. 
  9. ↑ "PWP Celebrates Outcome of Crown Estate Leasing Round" (PDF). pelamiswave.com. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  10. ↑ "Pelamis Wave Power Moves to Operational Phase of Business". Ocean Power Magazine. Retrieved 10 July 2011. 
  11. ↑ Reynolds, Rory (16 May 2011). "Scots wave power firm to axe third of its jobs". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 23 July 2011. 
  12. ↑ "Scottish Renewables: Scottish Renewbles Green Energy Award Winners, 2011". Retrieved 29 March 2012. 
  13. ↑ "Scottish Renewables: Scottish Renewbles Green Energy Award Winners, 2011". Retrieved 29 March 2012. 
  14. ↑ "Top 10: The hottest clean technology companies in Europe". The Guardian (London). 18 September 2008. 
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