Speaking about the rebranding, Andrew Scott, CEO, said, “After a comprehensive exercise, we are really pleased to introduce our new brand identity, and to do so at such an exciting time for the business, as we begin the build of our next generation turbine, the Orbital O2 2MW (previously referred to as the SR2 2000).”
The Orbital Marine name and corporate identity will carry through to subsidiaries, turbine products and services, and aligns with the company’s business and technology development strategy.
This follows an earlier announcement of a new turbine build which will see an optimized 2MW floating turbine installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. The multi-million pound investment in the project is led by a private investor group including the McGrath family and sector leader Matthias Haag. Public investment is provided by the Scottish Government’s Energy Investment Fund.
McGrath family investors include Sian George (née McGrath) who has chaired the Board of Scotrenewables since February 2016, and will continue to do so. As a sector investor Sian George is a proven leader in the energy technology and services sector. She was previously the CEO of Ocean Energy Europe, the trade body for ocean renewables in Europe. Since joining the marine energy sector in 2005 she has served on several advisory boards for the UK government and European Commission.
Matthias Haag’s most recent role was Chief Executive Officer of Gemini, one of the largest offshore wind parks in the world. The 600MW Gemini wind park has been built under his leadership over the last three years and is now providing revenues of about €400 million per year. Gemini was project financed with € 2.8 billion by more than 25 global banks, the EIB and three Export Credit Agencies.
Scott said of the investment, “As we enter a new exciting phase of turbine build and commercialization, the new appointments add significant industry and commercial experience and I’m looking forward to having their support and input.”
Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland’s Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, said, “I am delighted that Orbital Marine Power has secured private investment that will support its ongoing development so soon after it announced that its ‘SR2000’ tidal turbine in Orkney - the most powerful turbine deployed in the World - has already generated 3 GWh of electricity to the grid in the past 12 months. Scotland continues to lead the World in the development and deployment of tidal stream technologies and this latest investment is yet more evidence of the strength of Scotland’s marine energy sector; a sector that has a potentially significant role to play in the energy transition, both at home and in international markets.”
