Nova Innovation and the EIC Accelerator: Tidal Power Scaled Back

Nova Innovation, founded in Edinburgh in 2009, installed one of the first offshore tidal energy arrays, in Bluemull Sound in Shetland. By January 2023 the array had six 100 kW turbines on the seabed, turned by the tide, according to Wikipedia's account of the company.

In the October 2021 cut-off Nova was selected for a €2.5 million EIC Accelerator grant for UpTEMPO, a two-year project to design, build and demonstrate a 200 kW turbine with blade pitch control that would "reduce tidal energy costs by 30%". On the EIC's account, that grant was never signed. In a note of 15 September 2022 on the contracts from that cut-off, the European Innovation Council wrote that "Five grant-only projects with United Kingdom beneficiaries have been rejected as Horizon Europe association agreement have not been signed." Nova is one of exactly five UK companies selected for grant-only awards at that cut-off, no UpTEMPO project appears in CORDIS, and there is no report that the 200 kW turbine was installed. Nova's accounts at Companies House show that in 2024 it wrote down £11.8 million of intangible assets, "some of the early technology in tidal energy", and that its staff fell from 39 in 2023 to 28 in 2025.

Where Nova Innovation Stands Today

Nova's news page is now mostly about floating solar: Scotland's first floating solar array at the Forth Ports headquarters in Leith in 2023, the AquaGen365 joint venture with the consultancy RSK in 2024, a contract in December 2025 for a floating solar array at a quarry in Cheshire and, in June 2026, an announcement that it was powering a UK quarry. Its about page now lists "Floating Solar, Electrification, Marine Services". In its 2024 accounts the directors wrote that "delays in getting consent, along with the choke point of grid-access, have seen tidal projects face delays" and that Nova had offset them "with the addition of floating solar". The company appointed a new chair in December 2025 and allotted new shares in August 2026.

The Technology: Turbines on the Seabed

Nova's turbines sit on gravity foundations on the seabed and turn with tidal currents, which run on a predictable timetable. The UpTEMPO turbine was to add blade pitch control, to capture more energy, and a more compact body to cut weight and cost, meeting the EU's target of €150 per MWh for tidal energy by 2025. Nova's next array, SEASTAR, is a 4 MW, 16-turbine project at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, backed by Horizon Europe and announced in November 2023. The project's own documents, summarised by Tethys, say it will be "installed and commissioned in a single phase in 2027/28".

What the EIC Project Promised, and What the Record Shows

UpTEMPO promised a 200 kW turbine demonstrated within two years, cutting the cost of tidal energy by 30%. There are no project results to weigh against that, because on the EIC's own account the grant was rejected and no agreement was signed, which is also why no UpTEMPO record exists in CORDIS. UK Research and Innovation ran a Horizon Europe guarantee for applicants unable to receive their Horizon Europe funding while the UK was in the process of associating, which covered EIC Accelerator awards; whether Nova claimed it is not public. Nova has not announced the turbine's deployment, and SEASTAR, its next array and a genuinely Horizon Europe-backed one announced after the UK agreed association in September 2023, has not been installed. The 2024 accounts say the company "impaired some of the value of some of the early technology in tidal energy that has now been superseded", writing off assets with a cost of £4.8 million in full and part of assets worth £7.9 million.

1. A 200 kW pitch-controlled turbineNot shownNo deployment announced.
2. 30% lower tidal energy costNot shownNo results published.
3. A larger tidal arrayNot yetSEASTAR set for 2027/28.
4. Company growthMissedStaff down to 28.
5. The EIC grant itselfRejectedUK association unsigned, per the EIC.

What Has Happened Since the Award

The Money

Nova's filed accounts show net assets of £22.0 million at the end of 2023, falling to £12.4 million a year later after the impairment, and £13.2 million at the end of 2025; cash was £1.4 million at the end of 2025. The directors prepared the accounts on a going-concern basis, citing forecast "positive operational cash flow for at least the next 12 months". The company names the Scottish National Investment Bank as an institutional investor since 2021. None of that money came from the UpTEMPO grant, which the EIC rejected before any agreement was signed, and which is why the project appears nowhere in EU project data.

Why Europe Should Care

The EIC chose Nova to push tidal energy towards commercial cost and then rejected the grant, so the push was never paid for from Brussels. Nova's own accounts describe consent and grid delays holding tidal projects back, and the company has turned partly to floating solar to fill the gap. Europe's tidal ambitions now rest on SEASTAR, which is still to be installed.

The Verdict

Nova Innovation has not been asked for comment for this article. The reporting is based on publicly available sources, including company statements, UK company filings, project documents and official European Innovation Council documentation.