Wave energy developer Aquamarine Power was honoured with a major award for innovation on June 27 in recognition of its cutting edge Oyster wave energy technology.
The company won first prize in the ‘Product and Innovation’ category at the inaugural RenewableUK Energy Awards which were held in London.
Earlier this month, operational testing of Aquamarine Power’s second-generation Oyster 800 wave energy machine commenced at the European Marine Energy Centre near Stromness in Orkney when the machine produced first electrical power to the grid.
Martin McAdam , Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power , said:
“We were up against very strong competition in our category so it is a great honour to receive this award. We were particularly pleased to see that two of the five nominees in the Product and Innovation category were wave energy companies – a sign of the huge strides that our industry is making on its path to commercialisation.
“Thank you to RenewableUK for this award, which I would like to dedicate to our hard-working and incredibly talented team at Aquamarine Power. I’d also like to thank our shareholders, especially ABB, SSE and Scottish Enterprise, whose continued support is helping to create a brand new marine energy industry.”
Maria McCaffery , Chief Executive of RenewableUK said:
“We created these awards to recognise and celebrate excellence in the wind and marine energy industries. The extraordinarily high calibre of the winners, and indeed of all those nominated, shows there is a great deal to celebrate.
“We have seen exceptional achievements from companies and individuals in all parts of these sectors, from community engagement to technical innovation, from trainees to those who have dedicated their working lives to achieving sustainable solutions to our energy needs. The RenewableUK Energy Awards pay tribute to these inspiring examples of tenacity and success”.
Last month, Aquamarine Power was also honoured with a major European Commission environment award at the European Business Awards for the Environment.
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Offshore WIND staff, June 29, 2012; Image: Aquamarine Power