SeaTwirl, a Swedish company developing a new floating wind turbine, has informed it applied for listing on Nasdaq First North as it plans to place 600,000 shares, valued at SEK 40 (EUR 4.1) each, on the market to raise money for the development of a full-scale unit of its floating wind turbine.

The company said it had received subscription commitments from existing shareholders and external investors representing 50 percent of the share offer, ahead of the planned first day of trading on 22 December 2016.

SeaTwirl launched and installed its 30kW SeaTwirl S1 prototype turbine at the Lysekil test site in 2015. The device had endured all weather conditions including heavy storms, and the company is now in the process of developing a full-scale unit – SeaTwirl S2 – a 1MW turbine planned to be completed by 2020.

To finance the next 18 months of developing SeaTwirl S2, the company decided to issue new shares and raise capital which will be used for: calculations, simulations and construction of the entire SeaTwirl S2 wind turbine; obtaining a test site with all necessary permits; developing a methodology for the launch of the wind turbine; and completing applications for government and EU authorities.

The total cumulative capital needed until the SeaTwirl S2 is developed and launched is estimated at about SEK 70 million (EUR 7.2 million), with the largest part of the capital to be used for manufacturing and ordering various components of SeaTwirl S2. Further funds are expected to be obtained from grants, additional capital raising and partners.

SeaTwirl uses a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) with a tower placed on an underwater structure, which consists of a buoyancy component and a keel at its lowest point.

Watch the video on how the SeaTwirl turbine works: