We've had another good month. In this newsletter we'll bring you up to date on our current R&D efforts, some of our activities around funding the company and especially Hydrovolts' big win at the ZINO Green investor event.

We're also adding two new recurring features this month. In "Customer Spotlight" we'll examine a specific customer segment where a Hydrovolts turbine solves an urgent need. The other, entitled "Did you know?" will briefly highlight one aspect of our business, industry or current activities.

Let us know if there are subjects you'd like us to cover in future newsletters. And, as always, please contact us to find out more or get answers to your questions. We'd love to hear from you!

Hydrovolts Wins $50,000 ZINO Green Fund

Last week, Hydrovolts was selected as the winner of the

$50,000 ZINO Green 2009 Investment Fund. Said Cathi Hatch, ZINO Society CEO, "Three years ago when we launched the ZINO Green Investment Forum, Clean Tech was barely on the investment radar screen. This year the fund investors described the kind of company we envisioned awarding the ZINO Green Investment Fund to. Hydrovolts exactly fits that vision."

Hydrovolts CEO Burt Hamner was ecstatic to win a third consecutive contest. "This investment from the ZINO Society is recognition that we have a truly unique technology and business model with huge global potential."
 
The selection of Hydrovolts came two weeks after the ZINO Green competition on April 22, where Hydrovolts was picked as one of three Fund finalists, as well as sole winner of the ZINO Zenith Award for "Best Investment Opportunity".

The Fund investors used the extra time to ask additional questions and receive further information as part of their due diligence process. "It was clear that they did their homework on our business," commented Hydrovolts COO Chris Leyerle, "and we are pleased that the ZINO Green Investment Fund LLC will be bringing that expertise and involvement as part of our investor group. It adds a lot of value to what we are building."

ZINO Green was attended by some 120 accredited investors, clean tech advocates, press and local entrepreneurs, who saw presentations from Hydrovolts and eleven other companies. "This is the third annual ZINO Green Investment Forum, and the dealflow was the most impressive to date," remarked Mary Holmes, ZINO Society's V.P. Business Development. "Hydrovolts made a great impression on the investors."

The ZINO Society is an "angel investment membership network that connects people with ideas and capital to create opportunities for commerce, education, social interaction and innovation." ZINO has more than 225 active members, has hosted over 100 presenting companies and has been instrumental in helping raise almost $10M of funding for presenting startups since 2005.

Thanks again to all our friends and supporters who helped us prepare for and win this prestigious event!

NW Innovation

Xconomy.com blog post

Hydrovolts press release

ZINO Society press release

ZINO blog post

Hydrokinetic News

Hydrovolts is part of the broader hydrokinetic energy industry. May is a big month for our nascent industry, and there are a lot of funding and grant opportunities coming up soon.

In Washington DC, the Marine Renewable Energy Promotion Act of 2009 was introduced in the House and the Senate with bipartisan support. It authorizes $250 million a year for ten years to fund wave, hydrokinetic and ocean thermal energy conversion technologies and studies. Passage of the Act in some form is expected.

 
The US Department of Energy's Advanced Waterpower Technologies Program has an open RFP for marine and hydrokinetic energy technologies. The limited funding this year will be increased greatly next year according to sources. Fortunately, the requirement for cost-sharing this year on environmental studies has been eliminated and companies like Hydrovolts can afford to compete for the grants (which we are doing!)

State grants for hydrokinetic energy demonstrations are also available in California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Alaska and other states. Here in Washington the State Energy Program will be able to make grants for energy R&D from the federal Stimulus money it is soon to receive. Hydrovolts continues to work towards winning some of this grant funding.

 
In Scotland the Saltire Prize is close to its final rule-making. The prize of 10 million pounds will be awarded to the competitor who most successfully generates at least 100 gigawatt (GW) hours of ocean energy over two years in Scotland. That sounds like a lot but in fact is only small scale utility generation--the output of a 6 MW generation plant running full time. It is the power output of 15 tidal turbines of 200 square meters in size (about 16m diameter) if the peak tide current is 8 knots or 4 m/sec. That's a speed found only in Scotland and a few others places! Over 100 organizations have registered their interest to at least apply for the contest.

Customer Spotlight

Remote Ocean Devices

There are many users who want to place electronic devices in remote ocean locations where power is not available from the electrical grid. These remote ocean devices (often sensors of some kind) are powered by batteries; however today's state-of-the-art solutions are expensive and inconvenient.

For example, researchers at the University of Washington who want to deploy Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) currently use a disposable battery that costs $500 and lasts a mere 10 days, after which it must be replaced. In addition to the recurring cost of replacement batteries, there is the enormous cost of a boat and crew to do the replacement--often $1,000 per hour or more. In the deeper ocean farther form shore, boat costs can easily top $100,000 per day.

For small ocean power, the Hydrovolts turbine paired with a rechargeable battery provides a capital ROI of substantially less than one year. Oceanographers from the University of Washington have validated the Hydrovolts technology and have applied for $500,000 in research application funding from the US Navy. Hydrovolts is also in discussions with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) for a project using Hydrovolts' turbine technology. Other potential future customers include militaries, coast guards, and civilian uses such tsunami early warning systems.