Multimetaal, a technical specialist in the metal industry in Den Helder, is going to invest in wave energy. The company will play an important part in the development of Symphony Wave Power’s technology in addition to obtaining a share in the Teamwork Technology project. This makes Multimetaal part of a large group of partners working together on the energy of the future.
Symphony Wave Power is a new and innovative system generating wave energy. With the Symphony, energy from waves is directly converted into electricity. The basic design is simple and the number of parts is limited. The Symphony is also recyclable, animal-friendly and requires little maintenance. Close to the coast, a field of 50 Symphony’s, with an installed capacity of 100 kW per buoy, can supply all the electricity for all people living in a community as big as the Wadden island of Texel. Further from the coast, waves have more energy, enabling Symphony to generate more energy, which is suitable to produce hydrogen.
Multimetaal is a family business of technical experts in the metal industry since 1973. They provide engineering, manufacturing, installation and maintenance within mechanical engineering. Pim Hulsebos of Multimetaal: “My father started working in the oil and gas industry almost 50 years ago. Today we are still an important supplier to that sector, but we are also constantly working on innovation. For example, we are looking at alternative sources of energy and in 5 years’ time we want 50% of our turnover to consist of sustainable energy. The collaboration with Teamwork Technology to further develop the Symphony Wave Power technology fits perfectly into our strategy. At first we were critical. Teamwork has been developing this technology for nearly 30 years, so how come it hasn’t succeeded yet? We now know that an innovation process involves trial and error. A lot has been learned in the past 30 years and all this knowledge has now been applied in the design of today. This only increases the chance of success.”
Fred Gardner of Teamwork Technology is extremely enthusiastic about the collaboration with Multimetaal. Fred: “It takes a lot of flexibility and perseverance to step into a multi-million dollar project like Symphony Wave Power. You have to have a vision and dare. They have that at Multimetaal. Ultimately it is about trust and being open and honest with each other. Trust has grown from the conversations we have had, we believe in our collaboration and we share the idea of the potential of this project. With Multimetaal’s investment we can order, build and test parts. Multimetaal is an excellent addition to the team. An engineer from Multimetaal will be involved in the project who will actually help to develop the technology. In this way we build more knowledge and learn from each other.”
Pim adds: “Our company is excellent at creating manufacturable and installable products. We are not inventors, but with our expertise we can determine if something can be done better, faster and cheaper. Especially when it comes to working on and in the water. Therefore, we going to look very explicitly at whether the product can be made, installed and maintained at sea. The ultimate dream is a factory where we make Symphony’s on the conveyor belt. We are of course always looking for more investors for that. We know that there are never guarantees, but we do think that a technology like this can become very big. That is why we as a partner are proud that we are already involved in the process of building at this stage and really influence this innovation of wave energy.
Recent Comments