Cash injection for Scottish wave firm Mocean Energy

According to the Edinburgh and Aberdeen-based company, the funds will help it secure first orders for its small-scale Blue Star hinged-raft wave energy converter. Coupled with battery power, the device is pitched at decarbonising subsea power for the offshore sector.

Existing investors contributing to the latest round included Equity Gap, Scottish Enterprise and Old College Capital, which is Edinburgh University’s venture investment fund. New shareholders joining them include Norwegian impact investors Katapult Ocean, as well as MOL PLUS, the venture capital arm of Japanese shipping conglomerate MOL. The £500k grant was delivered through the Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund.

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“This new equity investment is significant for Mocean Energy – not just in the quantum invested, but in the additional strengths and specialist expertise our new shareholders bring,” said Mocean Energy co-founder and managing director, Cameron McNatt.

“MOL has a global footprint in marine transport sector and MOL PLUS will help us access MOL Group’s significant resources and expertise to accelerate our commercialisation. Katapult Ocean invests solely in technologies which will have a positive impact on our oceans, and the Mocean team will now be able to participate in Katapult Ocean’s award-winning accelerator programme to help drive our business growth.

“The grant funding is also vital and has been match funded through this new equity round. It will help us accelerate the commercial development of our Blue Star technology.

Mocean also recently received £3.2m of funding to further develop Blue Horizon, a larger 250kW device based on the same principles as Blue Star, but capable of delivering utility-scale power when deployed in multi-unit wave farms. The company now plans to refine the Blue Horizon design before deploying a grid-connected machine at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney as early as 2025.

Commenting on the latest round of funding, Jane Martin, managing director of Innovation and Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “This funding package is a great example of the public and private sectors working together to unlock investment in renewable energy.   

“The projects it supports are crucially important. One can completely transform the way power is provided to remote, energy intensive subsea equipment, while the other addresses the need for reliable, low-cost renewable energy at scale. Combined, they have the potential to play an important role in the internationally competitive green energy industry that’s emerging right here in Scotland.”