OpenHydro secures €47 million

Ireland-based designer and manufacturer of tidal turbines, OpenHydro, has raised €47 million ($53 million) which will be used to fund the equipment production and projects development in Europe and Canada, Bloomberg reports.

A DCNS-owned company has secured €47 million from its shareholders since September 2015 when the company’s Board approved the process of raising funds.

“In September 2015, our board approved a process of raising funding, with a target of €55 million. The plan was to have two phases. The first, of €45 million, was focused on our internal shareholders,” Peter Corcoran, OpenHydro’s CFO, said for Bloomberg.

Corcoran added that the company’s Boad is currently evaluating the second phase and the 2016 fundraising necessary to complete the project.

To remind, OpenHydro/DCNS recently deployed the first out of two 500 kW tidal turbines off Brittany, France, as part of the Paimpol-Bréhat tidal project DCNS is developing together with EDF.

The second turbine is expected to be installed in the following months.

Also, OpenHydro plans to deploy two 2 MW tidal turbines in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, in spring 2016. The project is delivered through Cape Sharp Tidal, a joint venture OpenHydro formed with Emera.

OpenHydro is developing another tidal energy project with EDF in France – The Normandie Hydro project at Raz Blanchard. It will see the installation of an array of 7 tidal turbines with the total capacity of 14 MW. The turbines, expected to be deployed in 2018, will provide power to 13,000 local residents.