Nautricity wins Cleantech Award

LONDON - May 13, 2015 - PRLog -- The University of Strathclyde spin-out company was recognised for its contribution to clean tech innovation and commercial success.

The award was presented to Nautricity ‘s environmental policy analyst Stephanie Conesa at an awards dinner at the Park Plaza, in London.

Cameron Johnstone, the company’s chief executive, said: “We are both delighted and humbled to receive this level of recognition. It complements the sterling efforts and hard work of Nautricity’s team in the scaling up and delivery of our technology to the market.”

Felicia Jackson, Editor-at-Large at Cleantech Investor said: “This award salutes the university spin-out that has produced groundbreaking new energy or cleantech innovation and been catapulted into the world of business.

“In choosing the recipient, the Judges considered a range of issues including funding raised, commercial success, corporate partnerships and future technology advances."

Nautricity’s CoRMaT tidal turbine device uses two closely spaced dissimilar rotors, moving in opposite directions to eliminate reactive torque forces that would otherwise require extensive foundation structures.

The technology was developed from first principles at Strathclyde’s Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Having evolved through several testing and appraisal levels, a full scale pre-commercial demonstration model was completed last year.

In 2010 completed its first venture funding round, bringing in First Tech as a shareholder and raising sufficient funds to commercialise the CoRMaT device.

In 2012 the company secured a Smart Scotland award from Scottish Enterprise in 2012 to complete a two-phase testing program at the Shapinsay Sound test site at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). The first phase tested the performance of its Hydrobuoy mooring system and the second phase tested the integrated hydrobuoy and CoRMaT performance analysis.

As part of the Scottish Government’s WATERS2 funding programme, Nautricity was awarded a grant of £1.4 million to support the cost of building and demonstrating its CoRMaT tidal turbine at the Mull of Kintyre, in southwest Scotland.

Last summer the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Nova Scotia-based Fundy Tidal for the development of a 500kW tidal energy project in Petit Passage, Nova Scotia.

It has also secured a test berth at EMEC’s Fall of Warness test site for its next stage of development.

In the coming year, Nautricity will focus on site development, infrastructure, and preparation for installation and commissioning for both its domestic and international projects at EMEC and Nova Scotia and prepare the ground work for developing its site at the Mull of Kintyre.