OpenHydro: Provisional liquidators appointed to OpenHydro energy firm

The French parent of Irish tidal energy company OpenHydro has sought the firm's liquidation, blaming a "deterioration" in the market and "a lack of commercial prospects over the long term". The business employs about 100 people.The High Court on Thursday appointed provisional liquidators to two related companies - Dublin-based OpenHydro Group Ltd and its subsidiary, OpenHydro Technologies Ltd - after hearing both are "seriously insolvent", with debts of approximately €280 million. Ms Justice Caroline Costello said she was satisfied to appoint Michael McAteer and Stephen Tennant of Grant Thornton as joint provisional liquidators to the companies.Both companies are involved in activities including the development of turbines which generate power from tidal energy. The court agreed to the appointments after being told Naval Energies, OpenHydro's French parent, which had invested €260 million in the firms, was no longer prepared to support the enterprises because they were loss-making.ShockThe decision came as a shock to OpenHydro's Irish staff, according to industry sources. The company has a technical centre in Carlingford, Co Louth, offices in Dublin and a Canadian branch in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It had connected a tidal turbine to the grid in Canada this week, and opened a facility in Cherbourg, France, in June.Naval Energies acquired OpenHydro in 2013 from its founders, who established it in 2006. Rossa Fanning SC for Naval Energies said, on top of what the parent had already invested in the Irish group, it was projected OpenHydro would make further losses of €128 million between now and 2026. Counsel said 2017 had been a particularly challenging year for the Irish group. During that period, the group, with operations in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Japan, sustained about €160 million in losses.SurviveThe group of companies needed €1 million a week to survive and, given the predictions about future income and expenditure, the parent firm was not prepared to advance any more money that would allow it continue to operatei, counsel sad. It was appropriate, given the complex structure of the group, that liquidators be appointed to secure assets worth in excess of €80 million, Mr Fanning said. Another factor supporting the application was that his client has received a communication from the group's senior management which indicated there had been a breakdown in relations between them and the board of directors, he said. The group was not opposing the application to be wound up, he added. Ms Justice Costello, after appointing Mr Tennant and Mr McAteer, adjourned the matter to next month.