Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — Aquamarine Power Ltd., a U.K. maker
of machines that harness the power of the waves to generate
electricity, said Martin McAdam, its chief executive officer of
more than six years is stepping down.
John Malcolm, who has been a non-executive director on
Aquamarine Power’s board since May 2012, will replace McAdam,
the Edinburgh-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.
Malcolm worked for 25 years in various roles with Royal Dutch
Shell Plc.
“Every leading business must go through a process of
renewal and I feel now is a suitable point to hand the baton
into John’s very experienced and capable hands,” McAdam said.
“Wave energy remains the world’s last great untapped renewable
energy source, and the continued endeavor to harness it
successfully remains one of the most exciting challenges of our
age.”
The wave-energy industry remains in its infancy as
developers continue to test and prove devices as they strive to
bring them to market. Bloomberg New Energy Finance in August
lowered its 2020 capacity forecasts for the industry by as much
as 72 percent to just 21 megawatts, saying development was
taking longer than hoped and costing more than expected.
“The Scottish and U.K. governments and the European Union
have done a tremendous job in supporting the industry thus far,
and I think now is a suitable point to examine critically how
industry and government can work together to enable the next
great leap to commercialization,” McAdam said.
Aquamarine is “well-funded” and has a “very clear” plan
to progress its Oyster technology, Malcolm said in the
statement. It’s currently testing machines in Orkney, off
northern Scotland, and has secured leases for future wave power
sites in Scottish waters.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Louise Downing in London at
ldowning4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Ana Monteiro, Randall Hackley