Scottish intelligent energy management and storage technologies specialist Verlume has secured €8.1 million for business scale-up and development of larger projects.
The funding in the amount of €7.5 million was provided by the Scottish National Investment Bank to support the Aberdeen-based company, while an additional €680,000 was raised via an offer to existing Verlume investors to boost their equity stake, managed by venture capital firm Par Equity .
Verlume’s technology uses intelligent energy management to deliver a constant output of power from renewable sources. This enables the adoption of renewable technology within offshore oil and gas decarbonization projects and minimizes energy loss from electricity generated from offshore wind .
The company’s flagship product Halo is a multi-use subsea battery storage system which reserves power generated from intermittent renewable energy sources like wind power.
One of the company’s Halo batteries has recently been deployed as part of an ambitious collaborative project to power subsea equipment with wave energy and subsea storage, led jointly by Mocean Energy and Verlume, with other consortium partners.
The cutting-edge energy storage and management technology is said to be able to significantly increase production efficiency by storing power and releasing it when required.
Richard Knox , chief executive officer of Verlume, said: “This is an enormous step forward as it will provide the funds necessary to execute significantly larger projects, which will in turn, grow the strength and diversity of our team.
“In the year that we are celebrating ten years in business, the support from the Scottish National Investment Bank will allow us to continue to invest in our people, our technology and operational capabilities to deliver on our vision of being a global company at the forefront of the energy transition.”
Robin Tayal , investment director at the Scottish National Investment Bank, added: “Verlume has been at the forefront of energy transition since the company’s inception in 2013. The Bank’s backing will allow them to scale-up and further transfer its considerable skills within the subsea sector into marine renewable energy.
“The investment further demonstrates our belief that the North East of Scotland can become a global power house in energy transition.”