QED Naval collects over €1.7 million as tidal power picks up pace

QED Naval, a Scotland-based tidal energy company, has secured over €1.7 million of funding with 1,152 investors taking part in its Seedrs crowdfunding campaign.

Further investment was provided by Kelvin Capital, whose members have supported the business from an early stage. Scottish Enterprise awarded match funding via its Scottish Co-investment Fund, the company informed.

The injection of capital will enable QED Naval to complete the deployment of its ‘pioneering’ Subhub tidal platform at its Yarmouth Tidal Test Centre, showcase its yield benefits to the sector, and build towards commercial sales of the platform.

Jeremy Smith, managing director of QED Naval, said: “We are delighted to have completed this funding round so we can now move ahead with the next phase of trials.

“With a global tidal energy market of €87 billion, and a predicted GVA of €1.6 billion by 2030 supporting some 4,000 jobs, the UK – and Scotland in particular – has a unique opportunity to capitalize on its natural resources. Tidal power could and should compete with wind and solar in terms of cost, and offers the added advantage of being a completely predictable supply of energy.

“The growth potential of this sector is enormous, growing from approximately 10MW currently, to 1000MW by 2030. This is well within the industries capabilities and enables it to play its part in net zero targets.  The UK’s tides could provide 12% of the country’s current electricity demand, and reduce our reliance on imported energy.”

Subhub is a patented platform that is said to reduce deployment and maintenance costs by up to 60%, and improves yields by 48%. Using the Subhub platform, tidal energy can be deployed over large distances, installed quickly, cost-effectively, in a single operation, across a wide range of weather conditions, according to QED Naval.

The company noted its Subhub supports every stage of a tidal turbine’s life, from integration ashore to deployment, installation and retrieval for maintenance.

Angus Hay, director of Kelvin Capital, said: “With Scotland setting ambitious targets to reach net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045, green tech start-ups are going to be key in developing the industry. Kelvin Capital are delighted to continue to support what we believe to be a truly innovative technology in the tidal energy sector.” 

Kerry Sharp, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise, added: “It’s great to see the company moving to the next phase of its trials. Technology like the platform being developed by QED Naval is of huge societal importance as we make the just transition away from the use of fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources.”

In Scotland, QED Naval has, in partnership with Islay Energy Trust, applied for a seabed lease in the Sound of Islay, for up to 10MW of tidal energy.

The Sound of Islay Community Tidal Project aims to install the industrial-scale Subhub platform with 10-meter diameter tidal turbines generating up to 1.35GWh of tidal energy from each platform and an annual energy production of just over 10GWh, according to QED Naval.

Keith Murray, QED Naval’s chief commercial officer, said: “There is widespread recognition that we need to act now to develop a secure, renewable energy ‘mix’, as we face the triple threats of climate change, rising bills for consumers, and global instability.

“With the completion of the EU Interreg TIGER project, QED and Tocardo will have more tidal turbines in the water than any other company. However, it will be very challenging to maintain this lead without further investment in the UK supply chain.”

“Scotland has the opportunity to be a frontrunner in this maturing market. We urge the Scottish government to invest in the infrastructure required to develop the supply chain for tidal power now, especially as we see governments in Wales and Canada investing and taking a lead.”

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