Dundee University is a creditor of Pelamis, the wave-power developer that collapsed with debts of more than £15 million.
The Edinburgh-based firm’s assets including intellectual property associated with its ‘seasnake’ wave energy device’ are estimated to be worth £835,000, meaning unsecured creditors are likely to face a significant shortfall.
The biggest single creditor is Scottish Enterprise, which backed the venture with funding of £8m, plus interest charges of another £4.8m. The Scottish Government department could receive only £660,000 from the administration process.
Unsecured creditors also include Dundee and Edinburgh universities, who carried out research for the project.
Dundee is owed £12,165.27 directly by Pelamis and would have been due to receive around £55,000 indirectly through a consortium if projects had continued, a scenario now thought unlikely to materialise.
The university’s concrete technology unit had been working with the company on developing prototype designs in concrete with the potential to replace steel as a construction material for cheaper and more efficient wave energy generators.
Professor Rod Jones and Dr Moray Newlands won a £250,000 grant from the Technology Strategy Board’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme to work on the three-year project.
When the grant was awarded in 2013 Professor Jones said the incorporation of concrete into wave energy devices appeared commercially and technically attractive, but the material needed to be tested.
His team was looking to develop concretes with the required stiffness and strength whilst being able to undergo extreme wave loading conditions.
They also needed to be highly durable against chemical attack from seawater and other deterioration, as well as being environmentally friendly.
The work further examined the cost implications of building in concrete, as well as the production and manufacturing processes.
Dundee’s concrete technology unit has a world-class reputation and links to industry around the world. Its broad research base covers concrete science, environment, technology and construction.
Pelamis went into administration in November with the loss of 56 jobs after the company failed to secure further investment.
Intellectual property, patents and other assets were bought by Highlands and Islands Enterprise after reaching an agreement with the administrators.
More than £90m had been invested in developing the firm’s technology over the last 16 years.
The Scottish Government also invested £15.5m in another renewable energy developer, Aquamarine, which has since announced job losses.
Earlier this month Swedish utility company Vattenfall announced liquidators had been appointed to Aegir Wave Power, a joint venture with Pelamis, which was working on a wave energy project off Shetland.