Siemens has purchased a stake in Marine Current Turbines, a marine energy developer based in Bristol, UK. Siemens has acquired just under 10% of ownership in the company, and has thus entered into a new energy development field, so far not visited by the company.

With this acquisition Siemens is hoping to enter and participate in what it regards as a "new market with good future prospects". Marine Current Turbines is an early stage company, with plenty of research and development ahead, so Siemens is this way securing access to an innovative promising technology.

The ocean power (marine energy) market is regarded as one of the future renewable energy markets which show the greatest growth potential in the industry. It is estimated that marine energy will experience double-digit growth by 2020. The UK has certainly made sure to promote and develop marine energy as one of the future sources of energy, by establishing a marine energy research center in Orkney (Scotland), and attracting investors and developer companies with incentives.This

Marine Current Turbines is not just sitting and waiting. The company has already had a successfull deployment of the SeaGen prototype in a demonstrator project in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Two axial turbines have been generating power since November 2008, outputting as much as 1.2 MW of power. At the moment, this is the most powerful working ocean current turbine in the world.

Future development include spreading the SeaGen concept around the world at various faborable locations in the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, and East Asia, where marine current conditions allow for an economically viable implementation. Siemens will use its international reputation and network to help push the new technology around the world.

[source: Siemens, image: Marine Current Turbines]