Jim McColl backs wind technology firm with equity stake deal

JIM McColl's Clyde Blowers engineering empire has taken an equity stake in an Edinburgh University spin out company in return for helping it to develop its wind turbine technology.

David Brown, Clyde Blower's gears business, will offer manufacturing advice and carry out testing of a prototype created by NGenTec, which last year raised nearly 3 million from venture capitalists and public bodies.

In return, McColl will receive an undisclosed stake in the company, which is led by chairman and acting chief executive Derek Shepherd.

Shepherd worked at Glasgow-based temporary power supplier Aggreko for 22 years, latterly as a main board director and managing director of the group's international division.

NGenTec is developing a system that would replace the gears used in wind turbines with a series of electromagnets.

The company, which was founded in 2009, claims that its equipment is 50 per cent lighter than rival systems and that its modular design is "cost effective and highly reliable".

Wind turbine manufacturers are looking for gear systems that require little maintenance, especially for the offshore market, where servicing is expensive.

McColl said: "I am pleased to support a Scottish based engineering company with innovative technology that is targeting the high growth wind sector. "Industrial partnerships like this can bring home-grown technology to market more quickly and can create the next generation of high value manufacturing companies in the UK and globally."

The deal is McColl's latest move into the renewable energy sector.

Over the past 18 months, his David Brown division has opened a manufacturing facility in China, received a 2.5m UK government grant and set up a turbine gearbox repair business.