Exec Turnover in the Wave Energy Industry Raises Suspicions

Nowadays, everyone’s alert to “fake news”; no one wants to be duped by deliberate lies that wind up in our media.  But, of all the different types of stories we come across each day, perhaps the most dubious are those purporting to explain why a certain person is no longer employed in a certain position in government or industry.  Was Jones fired? Did he resign over philosophic differences? Did he retire?  Is he going to be indicted on embezzlement charges?  Was he forced out in a hostile take-over?

Here’s a story that set off my BS detector.  The Swedish wave energy developer Waves4Power said its CEO Ulf Lindelöf decided to leave the company because of disagreement with Waves4Power’s board on the future governance of the company.

From the article: Waves4Power last week marked 5 months of power export from its WaveEL wave energy plant to the Norwegian grid from the Runde test site.  Waves4Power developed a WaveEL wave energy device that produces electricity using hydraulic pump which is connected to the accumulator that feeds a hydraulic motor with a generator, which in turn converts the hydraulic pressure to electric power.

In my experience, there are three types of business events that cause dramatic comings and goings of senior management:

• unexpected profits that stimulate greed

• abject failure that militates replacement

• fraud or other potential legal issues that make people on all sides want to…..run away!

Now obviously, there is no reason to think Lindelöf is a crook, but I’m always suspicious that I’m looking at the last of the three when I see an exit in an industry that is makes very little sense in the first place.  In this category I include both wave energy and small wind.  In both these cases, physics and economics conspire heavily against success, and this is becoming more clear every day, as solar and big wind continue to achieve greater dominance and cost-effectiveness.

I would also point out that there is nothing unique/patentable about a wave energy device that produces electricity using hydraulic pump which is connected to the accumulator that feeds a hydraulic motor with a generator, which in turn converts the hydraulic pressure to electric power.   Companies that have no valuable IP, and are operating in an industry that is probably doomed anyway have two strikes against them.

Again, I have no reason to impugn Lindelöf‘s integrity, and of course, this article could be a perfectly objective representation of the truth…but somehow I remain suspicious.