MAYNOOTH, IRELAND and ANNAPOLIS, MD--(Marketwire - November 8, 2010) - The United States Secretary of Energy and Nobel Prize laureate, Dr. Steven Chu, visited the headquarters of Irish wave energy development company, Wavebob Ltd. last Friday in Maynooth, Ireland and met with CEO Andrew Parish and his team. The visit follows the recent announcement that Wavebob Ltd. had secured a grant of $2.4 million from the US Department of Energy to support the company's ongoing technical development in the US.
Secretary Chu is a vocal advocate of research into alternative energy sources. During a tour of the Wavebob facility, Secretary Chu and Parish discussed the massive potential of the global ocean energy resource and the potential to create a large new industry in the manufacture and supply of wave energy converter technology. Secretary Chu saw a demonstration of the Wavebob wave energy converter and learned how Wavebob is progressing its commercial agenda and securing a global reputation as a leading pioneer in this emerging sector.
CEO Parish believes that the Energy Secretary's interest in Wavebob reflects a firm commitment to developing new sources of renewable energy. "This visit by Secretary Chu is certainly a tremendous boost to our company, and is of course a very great honor. More importantly though, Dr. Chu's visit and his Department's grant allocation of $2.4 million shows that the US government supports our work and is aware of the significant contribution that wave energy devices could make to the US energy market."
Wavebob Ltd. has partnered with some of the most powerful players in the US energy sector and the company has been building up a presence in the US since the establishment of its US head office in Annapolis, Maryland in 2008. The $2.4 million US Department of Energy grant was allocated from a total fund of $37 million in marine and hydrokinetic energy grants.
Also last week, Secretary Chu visited the Marine Institute of Ireland in Galway. The Marine Institute of Ireland is the national agency responsible for marine R & D in Ireland, including ocean energy.
About Secretary Steven Chu
Dr. Steven Chu (born February 28, 1948), is the 12th US Secretary of Energy. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips.
About Wavebob
Wavebob is a technology company specializing in ocean wave energy conversion. In 2007, the Wavebob device became one of the first wave energy converters in the world to succeed in producing electricity from the power of ocean swell. At full scale, the device is capable of producing in excess of one megawatt of energy, enough electricity to power approximately 300 homes. Established in 1999, Wavebob is headquartered in Ireland with a US head office in Annapolis, Maryland. For more information on Wavebob, please visit www.wavebob.com.
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