The Edinburgh based renewable energy company, Orbital Marine Power will be included in the dozen businesses on display at the Global Investment Summit hosted by the UK Government on 19 October.

The showcase will include innovative and green technology businesses ahead of COP26. Orbital has offices in Edinburgh and Orkney, and will have access to around 200 investors visiting the summit which will be hosted by Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and members of the Royal Family. Cutting edge innovation and the latest developments in renewable energy will be on display.

The Global Investment Summit will take the Prime Minister’s Ten Point plan for a green recovery forward set out in November 2020. There are more details of the plan here. The plan releases Ā£12 billion and promises three times that figure from the private sector to put green jobs at the heart of recovery.

Orbital will have a model of their O2 2MW tidal turbine at the summit. The turbine is capable of generating electricity for 2,000 homes, and is estimated to offset 2,200 tonnes of CO2 production in a year.

Orbital CEO Andrew Scott said: “We are delighted to be given this amazing platform to showcase the innovative technology we pioneered here in the UK and to share our vision of how tidal stream energy can play a part in turning the tide on climate change.”

Minister for Investment, Gerry Grimstone said: “Our Global Investment Summit will put UK innovation on the map and demonstrate how we can use investment to nurture technological developments and propel our economy towards a more prosperous, exciting future.

“These businesses show why the UK is a global hub for green technology, not just helping ensure a cleaner, greener planet but also creating high value jobs across the whole of the UK.”

In 2014 Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, rejected 10 out of 12 onshore wind farm applications when the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government under then Prime Minister, David Cameron appeared to change its policy on green energy. Mr Pickles’ intervention in planning applications for renewable energy projects was much criticised at the time and sometimes went against the recommendations of planners in England.

The current government campaigned in 2019 on a manifesto which committed to reaching net zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy and green infrastructure to reduce emissions and pollution. In the manifesto the Conservatives also asserted that the UK now leads a new green industrial revolution.

Companies included in the Global Investment Summit

Orbital Marine Power

Location: Scotland

Orbital Marine Power develops floating tidal stream turbines and will be showcasing a model of its O2 2MW tidal turbine, the most powerful tidal turbine in the world, which is capable of generating enough clean electricity for around 2,000 UK homes and offset 2,200 tonnes of CO2 production per year.

Hydro Industries

Location: Wales

Hydro Industries is a cleantech company harnessing technology to clean up industrial wastewater, protect the environment and provide safe drinking water to some of the worldā€™s most disadvantaged populations. It will showcase the EC 100 – a modular, compact water purification system based on Hydroā€™s patented Electrocoagulation (EC) technology, used for both potable water production and environmental wastewater protection.

Hy4Heat

Location: Whole of UK

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, through the Hy4Heat programme, is developing and delivering a demonstration area at the Summit with Worcester Bosch and Baxi as its key partners. The stand will showcase real appliances which have been developed by Worcester Bosch, Baxi and other UK-based manufacturers.

Tokamak Energy

Location: Oxford

Tokamak Energy is pioneering commercial fusion energy which is clean, economical and globally deployable through two world-leading core technologies, the compact spherical tokamak and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets. Tokamak Energy will display three high temperature superconducting magnets, including one tested at CERN, and 3D-printed models of current and future devices. It will display visuals of its latest record-breaking fusion prototype, including video clips of hot plasmas.

First Light Fusion

Location: Oxford

This University of Oxford spin-out is looking at new approaches to fusion energy, and will display its small demonstrator electromagnetic launcher on which it can represent its techniques.

Arrival

Location: Oxfordshire and London

Arrival is creating commercial electric vehicles at prices competitive with fossil fuel vehicles to accelerate the global transition to EVs. Their product portfolio consists of the Van (10,000 ordered by UPS), Bus (trials start with First Bus in Q1 2022 in the UK), and the Car (for ride-hailing, being designed in collaboration with Uber). Guests can use their smartphones to view a virtual van on their screens and drop it into the venue space.

Aurrigo – RDM Group

Location: Coventry

Aurrigo is a leading authority on autonomous transport, having designed, developed and built a number of driverless vehicles that are currently being tested in ā€˜liveā€™ traffic. The Coventry-based company will be exhibiting its 4-seater Auto-Pod – an ideal ā€˜first and last mileā€™ transport solution for city centres, and its Auto-Dolly, a new autonomous luggage and cargo system being embraced by airports all over the world.

Wrightbus

Location: Northern Ireland

Wrightbus have developed the worldā€™s first zero-emissions double-decker hydrogen bus, the fastest-charging EV double-decker on the market. Through an augmented reality display, Wrightbus will show the inner workings of the worldā€™s first hydrogen double-decker as well as a monitor showing where Wrightbus Hydroliners are running and the journey carbon savings (versus a diesel bus of the same model).

Vertical Aerospace

Location: Bristol

Vertical Aerospace designs and builds electrically powered vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. They will be showcasing a 3m x 3m scale model of their zero-emission eVTOL aircraft, the VA-X4.

Rolls-Royce

Location: Midlands

Rolls-Royce will showcase its small modular reactor model to provide low-carbon power and its 2m x 2m model of the Spirit of Innovation aircraft that is accelerating the electrification of flight, as well as 360-degree footage of the aircraft in flight ā€“ giving the sensation of flying with the pilot.

Automated Architecture (AUAR)

Location: Bristol and London

Automated Architecture Ltd (AUAR) is a start-up company that builds affordable homes using sustainable timber materials, robotic manufacturing and automation in architecture. It will showcase its timber building blocks being automatically assembled by a robot (provided by automation specialist ABB, Switzerland).

Drax Group

Location: Northern Powerhouse

Drax is a UK-based renewable energy company that has transformed itself from Western Europeā€™s largest coal-fired power station into the continentā€™s largest decarbonisation project. They will showcase innovative bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology.

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.