UK - £500,000 powers Scottish wind turbine company

Cleantech investor Low Carbon Accelerator has invested another £500,000 (USD$ 672,000) in Scotland-based small wind turbine manufacturer Proven Energy Ltd., hiking its total investment £7.15 million (USD $9.6 million) and its to equity ownership to 49.83 percent.

The company makes small-scale, high-performance wind turbines for clients including BP, Sainsbury, BT, B&Q, T-Mobile and Shell.

Proven Energy claims its designs are so robust they operate “even in hurricane force wind.” Proven Energy hit a milestone earlier this year, becoming the first company in the world to power a polar base (see New Antarctic wind farm).

The three-year-old company projects sales of more than £100M p.a. within five years, according to the web site of financial backer Low Carbon Accelerator. The company is currently in negotiations with a manufacturing partner in India to scale operations, also according to the site.

The recent investment will be used to accelerate the product development of the enhanced 6kW and 15kW turbines; upgrade the production of quality-control systems to improve yields; and expand the senior management team for the next phase of growth.

It has already manufactured and installed more than 2,000 turbines worldwide.

The infusion comes at a time of high demand for wind power and a slate of incentive programs from governments worldwide. The UK doubled financial incentives with its Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) available for small-scale wind as of April 1st 2009. Governments in the UK, Ireland and Italy offer tariff support while Australia and the USA officials have offered capital grant programs.

The United States intends to increase the strength of it wind power program to as much as 20 percent of the nation’s total electricity needs by 2030

For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfar.net