Former BP Solar chief development officer Bob Smith has been appointed chief executive officer of Pulse Tidal, the tidal stream energy provider. A chartered engineer, Smith began his career in the energy industry in 1990. He held a number of commercial and operational leadership roles in BP’s offshore oil and gas business’ before joining BP Solar in 2006. He holds an engineering degree from Cambridge University and a Masters in Management from Stanford University.

Smith said: "I am delighted to join Pulse at this exciting stage. The team has a great track record, raising over £2m to date and building a prototype in the Humber estuary, near Hull. With our unique technology, we are able to install tidal power machines in shallow water sites, close to electricity consumers. This reduces cost and complexity dramatically and we are confident that it will allow us to make tidal power a commercial reality very quickly."