22 Jan 2013

Tocardo International, the leading producer of tidal and free-flow water turbines, and Repsol, the international integrated energy company, announce a partnership between the two companies.

Through Repsol New Energy Ventures an investment into Tocardo has been secured and the partnership will provide a platform for both companies to develop offshore tidal energy, combining Tocardo’s knowledge of tidal and river free flow water turbines with Repsol’s access to energy markets around the world.

Tocardo can further accelerate the development of its off-shore engineering capabilities using Repsol’s knowledge of the energy industry and will be able to tap into many of the fledgling renewable energy markets that Repsol has identified.

Repsol is Spain’s largest industry conglomerate. It is currently one of the biggest oil and gas providers in the world. It has up to 1200MW of offshore wind concessions in the UK and is a partner in WindPlus/Principle Power floating offshore wind foundation.

The Repsol deal follows last year’s strategic invesment into Tocardo by the international offshore engineering company, Huisman Equipment. The combined Tocardo, Huisman and Repsol resources can deliver turnkey tidal energy projects.

Hans van Breugel, CEO of Tocardo said: “This is an important milestone for Tocardo; access to the knowledge base of one of the world’s leading energy providers will strengthen our offering to the market. Repsol’s market knowledge combined with Tocardo’s technical capabilities will create a strong mutual partnership. Having recently reached the full commercialization of the building and marketing of our smaller turbine, this partnership will help us to scale up our business and gain advantage in this fast-moving sector.”

He continues: ”With increasing international interest in tidal and in-stream power generation we will confirm our position as first to market in selling commercially produced water turbines. Tocardo, working with Huisman and Repsol, is now in a position to deliver on key projects.”

Simon Moynagh, Investment Director at ICON who acted for Tocardo added: “This investment from energy giant Repsol and offshore engineering specialist Huisman is a huge endoremsent to the tidal power generation market and it is testamant to Tocardo’s technology and management that such high calibre investment partners have been secured.”

Iñigo Palacio Prada, Energy Ventures Manager at Repsol commented: “The Repsol’s New Energy business unit was specifically created to identify opportunities, promote projects and develop initiatives in renewable and bio energy. This partnership with Tocardo fits perfectly within this framework.”

Further reading

October 2012

Tocardo International, the leading Dutch producer of tidal and free-flow water turbines, announces the start of a strategic long-term partnership with Huisman. Huisman is an international designer and manufacturer of construction equipment for the on-and offshore industry. New shares have been issued, giving Huismana minority stake in the business.

In addition to the investment, Huisman will offer expertise and experience in construction and engineering which will positively add to Tocardo’sinternational business position as one of the leaders in the construction of tidal free-flow water turbines. The new inflow of funds will be used for further technological developments in Tocardo’s offshore technology.

Commenting on the strategic partnership, Hans van Breugel, CEO of Tocardo said: “We have recently reached the stage of full commercialization of the building and marketing of our smaller turbines. This agreement is the next step in our plan to scale up our business and gain first-mover advantage in this fast-changing sector. There is a lot of international interest in tidal and in-stream power generation and we are one of the first companies to have commercially available products that are already being sold. Huisman’sinvestment and partnership will help us realize the full potential of this opportunity.”

Last month, Tocardo announced that it is currently manufacturing six free-flow water turbines for Nepal and Japan as part of thepartnership agreements announced in March to supply 8MW of bi-directional turbine power over a three-year period to Japan and, in June, to supply 2.5MW of uni-directional turbine power to Nepal’s fast-flowing rivers.

These are among the first to be sold in this relatively new but highly promising segment of renewable energy. The Tocardo free-flow in-stream hydro turbines can be compared to ‘underwater wind turbines’: free-standing underwater units, generating energy from sea currents, tidal and river flows. They are easy to install and are low-cost to maintain.