The Government has announced it is to support marine renewables businesses in the South West through a £5 million grant.
The funding will go towards the creation of a
Marine Renewables Business Park. The park will support a cluster of businesses working in
marine energy and will be based at
Hayle, close to the Wave Hub, a pioneering offshore facility currently under construction that will test wave energy devices on a scale not seen before.
It is hoped that today’s grant will enable a marine
renewables industry to flourish in the
South West. The region is spearheading a £100 million programme of work on marine renewables as the UK’s designated ‘Low Carbon Economic Area’ (LCEA) for marine energy.
The Government believes marine energy could power 15 million homes and save 70 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050 and create up to 16,000 UK wave jobs by 2040. Earlier this month, it launched the
Marine Energy Action Plan, setting out how to do this.
“The UK has huge potential to lead in marine energy – not just the natural resources but the industrial and
technology base and the R&D and skilled workforce,” said Business Minister Ian Lucas. “The grant we’re announcing today is part of the Government’s investment in the South West as a leading area for marine renewable energy.”
Claire Gibson, director of sustainable resources at the South West Regional Development Agency, added: "This is another important step in securing the South West as the leader in marine renewables. With Wave Hub now under construction, the business park will be a significant facility that will nourish the nascent marine renewables industry."
Crown Estate re-opens tendering process Inner SoundToday’s announcement coincides with the news that the Crown Estate has re-opened the tendering process for major energy tidal project in the Inner Sound, which lies between Caithness on the Scottish mainland and the island of Stroma.
The Crown Estate said the Inner Sound had been re-opened for tendering after the preferred bidder pulled out. Earlier this month, the Crown Estate announced an unprecedented 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of wave and tidal energy project leases, but the Inner Sound did not feature in the 10 sites unveiled.
In a statement today, the Crown Estate said: “Given the Inner Sound’s high potential for renewable electricity generation, and the fact that it was one of the most contested areas in the leasing round, we expect that other parties will be interested in the area. It has therefore decided to re-tender the Inner Sound. We are particularly keen to receive expressions of interest in a single commercial project of 200 megawatts or more installed capacity, to be constructed and operating by 2020.”
A great deal of investment is currently pouring into the marine energy sector.
The Carbon Trust recently announced the award of the £22 million
Marine Renewables Proving fund – aimed at helping marine energy firms to prepare their wave and tidal energy systems for the water. Atlantis Resources, Aquamarine Power, Hammerfest Strom UK, Marine Current Turbines, Pelamis Wave Power and Voith Hydro were selected to receive grants under the scheme.
Meanwhile, the Government is investing £10 million at the New and Renewable Energy Centre in the North East for early stage onshore testing and £8 million at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney to expand later stage testing facilities.
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