An investor group led by the Carbon Trust has invested £3.5 million in tidal energy company Marine Current Turbines (MCT).

An investor group led by the Carbon Trust has invested £3.5 million in tidal energy company Marine Current Turbines (MCT).

The Carbon Trust, which invested from its new £18 million fund for early-stage cleantech companies, was joined in the fundraising by Nordic investment firm Bank Invest, utility EDF Energy, Dutch private equity firm High Tide and a group of private individuals.

The funding will aid MCT in its plan to deploy the first commercial tidal energy farm in UK waters within the next two years. The company, which has already installed a 1.2 MW tidal stream turbine in Northern Ireland, is also looking to export its technology abroad.

Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, says the UK ‘is leading the way in marine energy’ despite the current economic climate having ‘created difficulties for companies like MCT operating within a capital-intensive sector’.