AWS Ocean Energy
Pioneering marine energy company AWS Ocean Energy are leading Scotland’s wave energy industry. TalentScotland spoke to Chief Executive, Simon Grey.
Pioneering marine energy company AWS Ocean Energy are leading Scotland’s wave energy industry. TalentScotland spoke to the company’s Chief Executive, Simon Grey, about how being based in Inverness offers a number of advantages.
What services does AWS Ocean Energy provide?
AWS Ocean Energy was created in 2004 to develop and commercialise wave energy technology. About seven years ago I met a couple of Dutch guys and we brought the technology over to Scotland. The availability of the market, the engineering expertise of the workforce and the infrastructure available in Scotland all made it the ideal location to set up the company.
At that time there were only three wave energy technology companies operating in Scotland – Wavegen, Pelamis and ourselves.
Tell us about your product, the AWS-III wave energy converter?
Our lead product is the AWS-III offshore wave energy generator. It is based on Archimedes Waveswing™ technology and was first deployed and tested in Portugal in 2004. A 1:9 scale prototype of the AWS-III was trialled in Loch Ness last summer and we plan to test a full-scale single cell version of the AWS-III in Scottish waters in 2012.
We’re currently supported by both investors and government funding but we plan on having the product to market by 2016 where our customer base will include the big utility companies.
How big is the organisation now?
There are 18 people in our Inverness office and we’re recruiting more. Following an investment from Alstom, a global leader in power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure technology, earlier this year, we’re expanding the engineering side of the business. By the time we are at the commercialisation stage we hope to have approximately 100 direct employees and around 300 - 400 indirect employees working on the design and production of composite parts and machinery.
What are the benefits of being based in Inverness?
Inverness is very much our base and we intend to stay here and expand the company here. The placement of services is perfect for us. There are quick connections between Inverness and London as well as Europe, via the city’s airport. We’re close to Orkney too - where our product testing facilities are located.
The quality of life here is second to none. It’s often tricky persuading people to move here in the first instance but when they do, they love it and, for the most part, they don’t want to leave.