Flex Marine Power: democratizing clean energy
Guest post by David Mummery: An engineer, technologist and entrepreneur, with significant and diverse experience of the tidal energy sector, David is driven by his faith and commitment to shape the future of how the energy industry operates globally.
We live in a time of energy crisis. Household electricity and gas prices are soaring and the world’s limited natural fossil fuel resources are rapidly diminishing as the demand for fuel rises. At the same time, the effects of climate change and the need to reduce our carbon footprint are posing a major threat to our planet and international peace and security.
These are the challenges of our generation. As we face these challenges head on it can be easy to become discouraged and feel overwhelmed. But I have always been driven by the belief that God has provided everything on the earth that we need in order to thrive and so we can work toward a vision of living in a world where everyone has more than enough.
Early on in my career as an engineer I felt called to the renewable energy sector. I wanted to help open up new, clean resources that can be found within the earth. As I started to look at the urgent need of our generation for a new energy solution, I felt certain that not only did the earth hold everything in it that we needed to meet our needs, but that God wanted to reveal innovative solutions to help us unlock these resources.
With this conviction, we set about designing a turbine that would be located in the sea and would generate clean, predictable energy from the movements caused by tides. With the knowledge that approximately two thirds of the planet is covered in water, it was clear that with the right technology and innovation, the seas and the tides presented humankind with a great opportunity.
But you’ve heard it said, ‘With great power, comes great responsibility;’ or in this case ‘With great opportunity, comes great responsibility’.
We are all too familiar with the discomforting stories of the oil age; stories that have often led to environmental or social costs as countries and companies have pursued the ‘black gold’ on a large scale, for the pure financial gain of a small group of people.
We are in the renewable energy age - this Great Age of Transition - and we want our grandchildren to look back on this era and say that we created solutions with a culture and approach which led to the renewal, not just of the energy industry, but of the societies which it served.
The oil grabs took oil out of the ground in developing countries under the noses of the people who inhabited and worked the land from which it came. With such a fresh tidal energy industry emerging at this time, we have a great opportunity to write the rule book and create the culture of a new industry. Thus creating opportunities for communities to thrive, harness and steward the resources that exist in their locality, to prosper both existing and future generations.
This vision led me to found Flex Marine Power. Targeting a diverse mass market of coastal energy users, communities and businesses, Flex Marine Power’s technology and business model is designed to not only give customers an understanding of what tidal energy they have on their doorstep, but also to harness the resources and skills that exist within their local coastal economy in order to unlock this resource: small harbour facilities, fishing vessels, marine skills and tools.
At the heart of our business model is a vision to create innovative tidal energy turbines that even the smallest and poorest coastal communities can access. Living in tidal regions that have energy resources on their doorsteps, in the form of natural tidal currents of our seas, we want to give them a stake alongside the big energy corporations also targeting this space. This approach honours those who have lived and worked alongside tidal waters for decades, and sets out to deliver a more competitive cost of energy than the large centralised tidal energy approach.
Every day we work to unlock local economic benefit through releasing untapped tidal revenues; to create associated jobs, and embed new skills and growth opportunities within what are presently often otherwise struggling coastal economies.
We are particularly passionate about the stories of the people on the ground. In 2017 we worked with a rural production plant who despite their successful product were unable to properly expand because they couldn't get access to more energy. Solar and wind energy was just too unpredictable to run a factory from, so two of our underwater tidal turbines for them represented an entirely predictable form of power, and with huge and discrete future expansion potential. The wider training and employment opportunity associated with running these units was also of great interest to local mariners.
By empowering local communities to access the resource directly themselves I believe we will see them placed at the forefront of this new clean energy expansion, which could bring significant opportunity, prosperity, and give many coastal communities and businesses around the world a boost they valuably need.
As we do this, we hope to indeed play our part in the renewal, not just of the energy industry, but of the societies which it serves both now and into the future. Together we can work toward a vision of a world where everyone has more than enough.
To connect with the Flex Marine Power team, email: connect@flexmarinepower.com
