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Government invests £5m in wave energy innovation

The UK government has invested £5million in the innovation and continued development of marine energy.

This investment grant will support the development of a Marine Renewables Business Park at Hayle, in the South West.

The park is expected to become a focal point for business involved in renewable marine energy, an industry which is soon expected to flourish.

Business minister Ian Lucas said: “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. The grant is part of the government’s investment in the South West as a leading area for marine renewable energy.”

There is significant UK potential in marine energy in the next decades with an estimated potential of up to 16,000 UK wave jobs by 2040.

Hayle is close to the pioneering Wave Hub, the project which will create the UK’s first offshore facility and will demonstrate an impressive number of wave energy generation devices.

Claire Gibson, director of sustainable resources at the South West RDA, said: "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."

The government is investing £9million in the establishment of Wave Hub and announced earlier this month that it would be providing £4million to fund a Marine Building at the University of Plymouth which will house new wave tank facilities and provide a flagship location where researchers and enterprises can interact and collaborate.

It has also revealed that it will be investing £10million at the New and Renewable Energy Centre in the North East for early stage onshore testing and £8million at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney to expand later stage testing facilities.

On 15 March 2010 the government published the Marine Energy Action Plan which set out the vision for what marine energy can do for the UK. 

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