Going from strength to strength, now with twenty-four full time staff, Perth-born wave power company Bombora is thriving in its new welsh home.
Pembroke Dock, with its enviable natural and industrial resources has been a key enabler in the rapid acceleration of Bombora’s full-scale technology validation project, as well as giving access to an experienced supply-chain. Bombora have engaged with nearly fifty local suppliers since opening their offices in Pembroke Dock in 2017. The largest two local fabrication contractors alone, Mainstay Marine Solutions and Altrad Services, will have 35 staff working on the project between them over the next 6 months. As well as direct and in-direct job creation, helping to boost economic development and diversify the energy portfolio of the area, Bombora is driving cutting-edge innovation for international success. Bombora’s feet are now firmly planted in Pembrokeshire and its innovative technology, the mWave, is set to deliver low cost, low impact, renewable electricity for commercial use across the globe.
In 2018 Bombora secured a £10.3 million European Regional Development Fund grant through the Welsh Government to support its Pembrokeshire mWave Demonstration Project, which brings a total inward investment of £17 million.
Managing Director, Sam Leighton, spoke about the importance of Bombora’s growth;
“We are thrilled to have been able to recruit high calibre experienced staff to join our talented team, placing us in a strong position to capitalise on wave power opportunities around the world. We have a clear roadmap for the validation and commercialisation of the mWave and expanding our technical and business development capabilities is all part of that plan.”
Over the last two months alone, as well a recruiting talented engineers, Bombora has welcomed two new business development managers and a marketing manager to sharpen its focus on securing new projects.
Bombora is currently mid-way through completing a 1.5MW mWave product validation project in Pembrokeshire. Simultaneously, Bombora is developing a global pipeline of commercial wave farm projects, the first of which will be in Lanzarote off the coast of Spain.
Notes for editor:
About Bombora and the mWave™
Bombora has developed a membrane style wave energy converter called an ‘mWave™’. Located 10 meters beneath the ocean’s surface, similar to a fully submerged reef, it is invisible from the shoreline. As ocean waves pass over the mWave, the membranes deflect pumping air through a turbine to generate electricity. Electricity is directly transferred to shore via a submerged cable.
The mWave is unique among wave energy converters as it simultaneously addresses the ‘cost of energy’ and ‘ocean wave survivability’ challenges.
