Mocean Energy secures new engineering study, crowdfunding campaign gains momentum

Scottish wave energy company Mocean Energy has clinched an engineering study with a “major energy operator” to further explore the integration of its Blue Star wave energy device into their project. 

According to Mocean Energy, this follows their first collaboration and builds on the growing potential for renewable ocean energy solutions.

The Edinburgh-based company is also progressing its crowdfunding campaign, raising over £378,000 (approximately $478,000) in the private phase. The campaign targets £900,000 to support the commercialization and global rollout of its hybrid wave, solar, and battery storage solutions. The campaign’s public phase is set to go live today, on November 21, 2024.

Mocean Energy’s Blue Star technology is said to aim to deliver predictable renewable energy for the Blue Economy, addressing subsea equipment power needs while reducing CO2 emissions for offshore industries, islands, and coastal communities. 

The company estimates the market for powering subsea equipment to be worth up to £1 billion annually, with the broader Blue Economy projected to exceed $3 trillion annually by 2030.

Industry and investors that supported the company include Katapult Ocean, Equity Gap, TotalEnergies, Shell, Wave Energy Scotland, and MOL, according to Crowdcube. The company said that they are currently working on commercial studies with order values in excess of £194k.

Recent sea trials for Blue Star were funded by Shell – Marine Renewables Program and TotalEnergies, validating the technology’s potential, Crowdcube noted. Central to Blue Star’s efficiency is its patented hull design, which utilizes proprietary software to optimize energy capture from ocean waves.

Funds raised through the ongoing campaign will drive the international commercialization of Blue Star and expand the company’s engineering studies and hardware sales, Crowdcube said.

In late October, Mocean Energy kicked off the crowdfunding campaign to secure additional investment as it advances its ocean energy technology from the prototype stage toward technology commercialization and internationalization.

Mocean Energy has been forging partnerships to accelerate the shift to greener offshore solutions. Notably, the company recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aberdeen-based Proserv to develop low-carbon power solutions for underwater operations.

Mocean Energy is also working with German subsea technology firm SubCtech to explore how wave and solar energy can be coupled with batteries to deliver low-carbon power for customized ocean power and monitoring solutions. Together, they are developing new subsea technologies that incorporate wave, solar, and battery power, targeting a variety of applications across the subsea sector.