Archive for January 4th, 2012
Wave energy pioneer courts big engineers
Power play: Pelamis workers in Edinburgh assemble a wave energy converter that will be moored off the Orkney Islands this year
Three of Britain’s biggest engineering groups are being sounded out in an effort to find a “UK solution” to the conundrum of how to finance one of the world’s most advanced suppliers in the fledgling wave energy sector.
The company up for sale is Pelamis Wave Power of Edinburgh, which hopes to attract interest from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Weir after receiving £45m in funding from venture capital groups since it was started in 1998.
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The response to ideas about acquiring Pelamis will be a useful test of corporate interest in wave power machines, which employ a range of mechanisms to extract energy from the oceans and convert it into electricity.
While the technology is considered one of the most promising areas of renewable energy, the costs of producing Pelamis’s hardware are 5-10 times higher than they need to be before the machines can rival conventional forms of power, such as gas turbines.
Other companies to be canvassed about their potential interest in acquiring Pelamis, which is thought to be worth £30m-£50m, include Siemens of Germany, Caterpillar of the US, ABB of Switzerland and Alstom of France.
All are interested in zero-carbon forms of power and could, at least in theory, afford the outlays of perhaps £10m-£20m that might be needed in the next few years to bring Pelamis’s technology to fruition.
Per Hornung Pedersen, Pelamis’s chief executive, said: “We have reached the stage where it makes most sense to look for financial support from a large engineering company rather than [to] seek further investment from venture capital groups.”
While his main aim was to find the “right company” to buy Pelamis, he “favoured the idea of a British buyer”. Professor Jim McDonald, vice-chancellor of Strathclyde University in Glasgow, a leading academic establishment for engineering, said: “From my perspective, the ideal solution would be to find a UK business to buy Pelamis.”
Ernst & Young, the consultancy, has been retained by Pelamis with the aim of finding a buyer during the next six months. Among the names on the list of companies it intends to talk to are the three UK and four non-UK companies. All seven declined to say if they would be interested.
Pelamis’s semi-submerged machines, which resemble red and yellow snakes, are 180m long, weigh 1,300 tonnes and cost as much as £7m. Electricity is generated by hydraulic mechanisms and sent to the shore by cable.
Mr Pedersen said Pelamis was close to starting up a production line for some machines – a transition that would require a partner with the ability to operate factories turning out complex equipment and to afford substantial outlays in working capital.
Since 2005, Pelamis has chalked up cumulative revenues of £19m, including sales of two large wave power machines to Eon of Germany and Scottish Power. By 2020, it hopes to build up to sales of £50m-£100m a year.
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Pamarco Global Graphics appoints new technical sales representative
Pamarco Global Graphics has appointed Ty Lovett as technical sales representative in the Southern portion of United States for the company’s flexo division, including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Dave McBeth, vice president of sales and marketing for the company’s flexo division, said, ‘We are all excited to welcome Ty to our sales team. The company has been making major advancements in this region and his expertise will help us continue to increase our presence in this area and retain our position as the global leader of anilox roll manufacturing.’
Lovett will be available for customer technical meetings and visits beginning 16 January 2012.
Click here for more stories about Pamarco Global Graphics on L&L.com.
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