Scotland in running for marine HQ

SCOTLAND is in the running to secure the headquarters of a major new engineering services company being launched to capitalise on a predicted boom in wave and tidal energy projects.

Swedish energy giant Vattenfall, UK engineering support services firm Babcock and Spanish technology group Abengoa have joined forces to establish Nautimus, the world’s first company of its kind focused on marine renewables.

A decision on the location for the company has not yet been taken, but a spokesman for Vattenfall, which has a base in Edinburgh, confirmed Scotland’s leadership in the ocean energy sector made it “a contender”.

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The company’s first client is likely to be Aegir, a ten megawatt (MW) wave farm planned by Vattenfall and Edinburgh-based wave power device develop Pelamis off Shetland.

Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said the creation of the company was “further evidence of the momentum building behind the marine renewables industry as it makes strides towards commercialisation and the economic potential that this sector offers to supply chain companies”.

Nautimus will provide engineering, procurement, integration and construction services on wave power and tidal stream projects on behalf of utility companies.

The partnership aims to address what it sees as a gap in the sector for engineering services providers “capable of handling the challenges” involved in constructing major offshore marine energy projects.

Veijo Huusko, Vattenfall’s head of low emitting energy R&D, said: “These projects are large and difficult. The participation of large industrial players with the strength and capability to deliver is critical to the ocean energy sector. We are very pleased to see experienced engineering specialists coming together in Nautimus to ensure the significant global ocean energy opportunity is realised.”

Babcock, which owns the Rosyth shipyard and manages the Clyde naval base, has previously signalled its intention to become a major player in the renewables industry as a long-term replacement for its aircraft carrier work.

Last year it struck a deal with SSE to store 68 turbines destined for the onshore Griffin wind farm near Perth at the shipyard and is also developing designs for support vessels, substations and weather stations for the sector.

Ian Lindsay, director of technology for Babcock, said: “We are pleased to be supporting this new company at a time when there is significant potential opportunity in the installation of wave and tidal projects. We are building our renewables capability and by engaging early we can utilise our extensive skills and experience to improve the success of ocean energy projects.”

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Abengoa played a leading role in the rapid development of commercial scale solar power, and Javier Camacho, general manager of its seapower business, said: “We see that wave energy could be poised for the same transformation. There is no time to lose if ocean energy is to become a commercial reality.”

In March, Vattenfall – the sixth largest generator of electricity in Europe – said it had reserved a berth at Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre to test a single Pelamis machine.

If that testing is successful the device will be joined by eight or more other machines at the Aegir project which – if it secures the necessary consents – could start generating in 2016. Scotland has up to 25 per cent of Europe’s tidal power resource and 10 per cent of its wave power potential.

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