Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) — Flumill AS, a Norwegian developer of
machines to generate power from tides, is raising 57.5 million
kroner ($10 million) to install a unit off the northern coast.
Pareto Securities AS will help raise the funds mainly in
Europe, Faervik-based Flumill’s Chief Executive Officer Anders
Holm said by phone. The developer is talking to venture arms of
utilities, industrial companies and equipment manufacturers, as
well as venture capital and private-equity funds, he said.
Flumill will use the money with a grant of the same amount
from Enova, Norway’s state clean-technology agency, to develop
and install a 2-megawatt machine in the first-quarter of 2014,
Holm said. It anticipates commercial orders after that, he said.
Tidal energy companies are seeking investment and expertise
from industry as they move closer to bringing their technology
to market. Siemens AG, Alstom SA and DCNS SA have bought stakes
in developers. A 2-megawatt Flumill system weighs less than 200
metric tons, against as much as 1,500 tons for some competitors.
The company has a unit in Scotland that tested a quarter-
scale system at the European Marine Energy Center last year. It
views the U.K. as the most mature market because of government
policy and is approaching potential partners for tidal sites.
Marine energy in England and Scotland receives some of the
highest subsidies in the world, about 207 pounds a megawatt-hour
($317) at current prices. Energy from tides at present costs
about $440 a megawatt-hour, compared with $128 a megawatt-hour
for coal-fired power, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Flumill is interested in the U.S., France, Japan and China
and views South Korea as a “very interesting” market, Holm
said. It’s speaking to most of the major utilities with licenses
for tidal park developments in Britain and France, while in Asia
it’s approaching industrial companies and utilities.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Louise Downing in London at
ldowning4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
