South West of England to become world centre for wave and tidal energy

15 July 2009

The South West of England to become leader in tidal energy

The region has been designated as the UK’s first low carbon economic area because of its strength in marine energy.

The government is expected to make £19.5m available as part of a £100m two-year investment programme in marine renewables led by the South West Regional Development Agency. The government has allocated £9.5m for the RDA’s 20MW Wave Hub project, which will be commissioned next year, with the remaining £10m available to support other marine energy projects in the region.

In addition, the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme will invest £20m in the Wave Hub project. Total investment into the project now amounts to £42m and legal agreements have already been signed with renewable energy company Ocean Power Technologies Limited to take the first berth at Wave Hub using its PowerBuoy wave energy converter.

Stephen Peacock, Enterprise and Innovation executive director at the South West RDA said, ‘This is about a new industry and new jobs, and the South West’s critical role in building a greener global economy. Being identified as the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area is a tremendous accolade and recognition of our commitment to develop this unprecedented economic opportunity. We want to forge a new industry from the seas around our shores and today’s announcements cement our position as a global leader in wave and tidal technologies.’

Peacock went on to add that the strategy sets out a range of opportunities to ensure the UK takes advantage of a global market set to be worth £4.3tn by 2015.

The South West’s marine energy industry is supported by the £15m Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy, set up two years ago by the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth with funding from the South West RDA and Europe. It offers expertise of the industry and consists of 15 academic staff, 60 researchers and a dedicated technology transfer team that works with businesses.

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: tidal energy, wave

This story was published on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 11:26 am and is filed under Europe, policy, 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.

One Response to “South West of England to become world centre for wave and tidal energy”

1. mehdi says:

   8 September 2009 at 11:17 pm

   hi,i live in Iran and i love to invest my time in new energy field,is it possible for you to instruct me how?
   i love to innovate some things to gain the sea wave energy and work in this field.
   thanks a lot.

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