South West development agency funds £1.2m wave tank test site

29 October 2009

The UK South West Regional Development Agency (South West RDA), a public agency devoted to business development in the region, has invested £1.2m in in a wave tank testing facility.

The facility will allow model testing in both multi-directional waves and variable direction currents, and will also be able to model shallow and deep water conditions. It will enable the testing of scale models of wave and tidal energy devices individually and in arrays, and is the first of its kind in the UK.

‘Not only can we test the performance of wave and tidal devices, but we can also model how these devices might impact on coastal conditions,’ said Dr Deborah Greaves, reader in coastal and marine engineering at the university of Plymouth, where the wave tank facility will be located.

The tank testing unit is part of south West RDA’s commitment to contribute £7.3m investment to the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE), a £12.6m project set up by academics and researchers from the universities of Exeter and Plymouth to support the development of the marine renewables sector. The facility is expected to be completed by early 2012

UK minister Lord Drayson said, ‘This wave tank will play to the UK’s strengths – science, engineering, waves and tides – to help us establish a global lead in developing the technologies necessary to produce this renewable energy supply. Wave technology will be key to future of energy generation and the South West, the UK’s first low carbon economic area, has the potential and expertise to make this happen.’

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: water

This story was published on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Europe, deals, water. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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