SABELLA: tomorrow part of an upcoming selective marine hydro turbine "big four"...

With perseverance and after two years of prospecting, SABELLA has finally completed a first round of funding, despite a seed capital market fairly sluggish, domestic investors skittish on maritime risk and particularly in MRE (Marine Renewable Energies), and major French industrial groups succumbing to the Anglo-Saxon sirens song and their valuation multiples, staying deaf to the prayers of support from French young innovative SMEs.

Perseverance of SABELLA, definitely! But also confident and sustainable involvement of national and territorial public actors (CGI, ADEME, local authorities of Brittany) in their accompanying to the French pioneer. Energy transition public policies also require the emergence of networks of excellence, such as MRE, and the revitalization of industrial sectors supported by the innovation capacity of SMEs, their responsiveness and their global markets understanding.

Potential of SABELLA, certainly! But also newfound and well-timed perception from regional or energy dedicated "venture capital" funds (GO CAPITAL, EMERTEC) of SABELLA’s accreative value capacity. This opinion is based on a "less is more" technology motto where reliability, redundancy, security, ruggedness and production maximization respond precisely to energy companies expectations, and also on the relevant targeting of market segments and their penetration’s timeline.

Passion of the SABELLA teams, undoubtedly! But also belief and enthusiasm of mature SMEs managers for this adventure. From their proven successful entrepreneurship, they decide to invest financially in SABELLA in order to create an industrial partnership for launching a tidal turbine industry and optimizing synergies of activity. Such is the case of CMI and FARINIA-FMGC groups that contribute to an improved technology definition. This is similar for GEOPETROL that registers its participation in its "after oil" foresight vision.

Finally revived, SABELLA currently completes its "Sabella D10" demonstrator construction, which will be immersed in the Passage du Fromveur in spring 2015. It is the bridgehead on this site of a highly awaited future tidal turbine pilot farm that will allow to significantly "decarbonize" Ushant island by substituting part of the current insular electrical production from fossil fuels by the renewable resource of the Iroise Sea streams. These flagship projects and its remarkable accompaniment already give SABELLA credibility and strong listening in its international prospection.

As the 'majors' of the tidal energy sector mainly target the largest marine currents fields allowing commercial developments for supporting future heavy industrial deployments to meet the long-term costs decrease based on the projects size and constructions in series, SABELLA moves on the MRE chessboard in focusing on immediate suitable market niches.

Efficiently in the short term SABELLA could capitalize on its island energy model. Throughout the world, the Islands grids are mainly isolated and powered by fossil thermal energy (often subject to hydrocarbons inflation, and requiring the fuel shipping and storage). Such pattern is characterized by an electrical residential and touristic demand and so little smoothed, and a much higher cost than the one induced by the diversified energetic mix on continental interconnected networks. These conjunctions well promote the compelling development of economical and ecological energy alternatives as advocated by SABELLA with impending penetration of hybrid solutions 'tidal energy + energy storage + smart grid'.

Today, far from these considerations, the elite of the tidal energy sector comes through a dozen major players internationally who have taken over initial projects incubated by young startup and injected no limit budgets needed by non-built technology iterations. This oligopolistic distribution should not resist to predictable failures due to irrelevant original fundamentals, ignorance of the maritime safety constraints, non-integrated commercial offers, ultimate sophistications leading to frailty, costs inconsistent with a commercial harnessing of the resource, or even by developments budgets conflicting with a stock market listing.

This will lead soon (less than 5 years) to the abandonment of projects or strategic segments, merge and acquisitions, consolidations and subsequently to a tightening of the number of significant actors in a very closed club penetrating the tidal energy market at the four corners of the planet. 

Meanwhile, SABELLA, best introduced on its local market in Western Brittany, and insular showcase abroad, should lead its industrial growth by the arrival of new investors or a large group in the medium term. 

Good omens gathered around SABELLA to integrate this 'big four'..., SABELLA works in!