Tidal energy company QED Naval has secured more than £1.5m of funding.
In addition to a Seedrs crowdfunding campaign - in which 1,152 investors participated - further investment was provided by Kelvin Capital, whose members have supported the business from an early stage, with Scottish Enterprise awarding match funding via its Scottish Co-investment Fund.
The new capital will enable QED Naval to complete the deployment of its Subhub tidal platform at the Yarmouth Tidal Test Centre and build towards commercial sales of the platform.
Managing director Jeremy Smith said: “With a global tidal energy market of £76bn, and a predicted GVA of £1.4bn by 2030 supporting some 4,000 jobs, the UK - and Scotland in particular - has a unique opportunity to capitalise on its natural resources.
“Tidal power could and should compete with wind and solar in terms of cost, and offers the added advantage of being a completely predictable supply of energy.
“The growth potential of this sector is enormous, growing from approximately 10MW currently, to 1,000MW by 2030 - this is well within the industries capabilities and enables it to play its part in net zero targets - the UK’s tides could provide 12% of the country’s current electricity demand, and reduce our reliance on imported energy.”
Subhub is a patented platform that reduces deployment and maintenance costs by up to 60% and improves yields by 48%. The platform can be deployed over large distances and installed cost-effectively in a single operation, across a wide range of weather conditions.
Angus Hay, director of Kelvin Capital, commented: “With Scotland setting ambitious targets to reach net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045, green tech start-ups are going to be key in developing the industry.
“We're delighted to continue to support what we believe to be a truly innovative technology in the tidal energy sector.”
Edinburgh-based QED Naval, in partnership with Islay Energy Trust, has applied for a seabed lease in the Sound of Islay, for up to 10MW of tidal energy.
The Sound of Islay Community Tidal Project aims to install Subhub with 10m diameter tidal turbines generating up to 1.35 GWhr of tidal energy from each platform and an annual energy production of just over 10GWhr.
Keith Murray, chief commercial officer at QED Naval, said: “There is widespread recognition that we need to act now to develop a secure, renewable energy ‘mix’, as we face the triple threats of climate change, rising bills for consumers, and global instability.
“With the completion of the EU Interreg TIGER project, QED and Tocardo will have more tidal turbines in the water than any other company.
“However, it will be very challenging to maintain this lead without further investment in the UK supply chain,” he continued, adding: “We urge the Scottish government to invest in the infrastructure required to develop the supply chain for tidal power now, especially as we see governments in Wales and Canada investing and taking a lead.”
To date, QED has also secured EU funding and a place on Interreg’s €48.2m Tidal stream Industry EnerGisER Project.
The company was founded by Jeremy Smith, a naval architect with 20 years’ experience in the defence research and marine industry, working on nuclear submarines, composite propulsion systems and the aircraft carriers.
QED’s early stage backers include Donald Houston, serial entrepreneur and owner of Ardnamurchan Estates.
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