The Scottish energy startup Mocean Energy has raised £730,000 ($970,000) equity funding from existing investors, which will enable the company to move the ‘Blue Star’ project forward by finalizing its design and testing.
Cameron McNatt, Mocean Energy’s managing director, has stated that this funding round, the third since 2020, will give them the boost required to accelerate the roll out of their innovative energy solution, which is now in a trajectory to enter commercial trials in 2023.
The ‘Blue Star’ is a system aiming to capture kinetic energy from ocean waves and convert it into electric power. From there, the power may be used on a range of subsea applications such as control systems, remotely operated submarines, autonomous underwater vehicles, and various other systems that are currently infeasible due to not having reliable and affordable access to power.
Image Credit: Mocean Energy
The system can be deployed offshore in wave farms and deliver power to the grid converted to usable form and voltage levels through the ‘Blue Horizon’ system. The company has already proved the concept with the 20m-long ‘Blue X’ prototype, which was developed and commissioned in the spring of 2021, following a £3.3 million funding from Wave Energy Scotland.
Blue Star is a generator based on the Blue X design, which can output 10kW of electric power. Mocean Energy is already developing the next generation of Blue Star in parallel, which will ramp up the output to 20kW, thanks to optimized geometry, the addition of solar panels, and a new direct-drive generator.
Although wave power is one of the most abundant natural resources, estimated to be 2 TW, it has remained elusive due to the multiple challenges that make such projects unwelcoming to investments. However, the northern coast of the UK is considered an ideal location due to strong winds that give it high power generation potential, so Mocean Energy is on track to becoming one of the pioneers in the field.
