On Friday there was a huge announcement of up to £100m investment in Edinburgh. Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe Ltd (MPSE) are to invest this sum in an engineering facility to carry out research and development into offshore wind turbine technology.
Over the next five years, MPSE expects to create up to 200 jobs at the new Centre and at the firm of Artemis IP (AIP). If the technology is successful, this could lead to the creation of a major offshore wind turbine manufacturing site in Scotland.
MPSE will create a Centre for Advanced Technology in Edinburgh to pioneer ‘game changing’ green energy technologies towards mass production. They are also acquiring the firm of Artemis IP.
Artemis IP is a spin-off from Edinburgh University and works from a small industrial unit in Loanhead. Now they have hit the headlines as a main player in the renewables game right here in Edinburgh. So what exactly do they do and why are they of interest to Mitsubishi? The company has devised a system of hydraulic transmission which will replace the traditional gear box in a wind turbine, often the part that stops working.
You can watch The Carbon Trust video which explains the way the Artemis IP hydraulic transmission system works. You will also see that the company has used such a transmission system in a BMW 5 series (which The Reporter had a wee hurl in a while back but was disappointed by the lack of revs.. it makes the engine quite silent! It is exciting to know that the technology exists to save fuel used in transport – and even more exciting to know that this has been developed here in the capital.
You can also watch the video here
There are many brains behind the technology but principally that of Professor Stephen Salter who is widely acknoweledged as one of the pioneers of wave energy technology. His Salter Duck, which was a potential wave energy device, is exhibited in the National Museum of Scotland. Also Canadian boss of the company, Dr Win Rampen. Rampen said: “This marks a huge step forward for the development of our game-changing technology. Drawing on the breadth and depth of MHI expertise and skills, AIP look forward to accelerating our R&D work with a view to our technology being used in turbines in UK and European waters by 2015.”
Artemis IP were also part of the Clean and Cool Mission to San Francisco organised by Scottish Development International which we reported on previously here.
Have you room for more good news? Artemis are hiring! See their jobs page here.
