Isra-Mart srl:NGenTec reveals mystery £2m wind turbine investors

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Isra-Mart srl news:

A spin-out from Edinburgh University has named Scottish Enterprise and SET Venture Partners as the mystery investors funding the manufacture of its lightweight wind turbine technology.

NGenTec yesterday confirmed it has secured a total of £2m from Amsterdam-based SET Venture Partners and Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Co-investment Fund to build a 1MW prototype version of its C-GEN direct drive turbine.

Although BusinessGreen reported the investment last month, NGenTec had refused to name the investors until the deals were completely signed off.

NGenTec now expects to expand its workforce by 20 over the next two years and yesterday appointed a full-time chief executive to lead the company's development.

Its C-GEN wind turbine uses direct drive technology that allows it to dispense with a gear box, making it easier to install and maintain than conventional wind turbines.

The company claims its design is 50 per cent lighter than existing direct drive machines and uses permanent magnets formed into rings, or "slices", that make it easier to assemble than existing technology.

This modular design will also reduce the amount of downtime, according to NGenTec, because if one slice breaks down, the others continue to work.

NGenTec founding chairman Derek Shepherd told BusinessGreen that the prototype machine will be built between March and July next year. However, he refused to disclose where it will be manufactured, saying only that it would be made in the UK.

He plans to confirm the location of the new manufacturing facility next month, after finalising further investment and an industrial partnership with an unnamed global manufacturing company.