The study will examine the potential for wave, tidal and offshore wind installations up to 2030, and will inform future investment decisions by the industry, feed into the ongoing consultation about Marine Conservation Zones through the Finding Sanctuary project and help the South West retain a leading role in the development of marine renewables.
The announcement was made at today’s RenewableUK Wave and Tidal conference in London, during an update from the RDA about its pioneering Wave Hub marine energy project in Cornwall.
Claire Gibson, Director of Sustainable Resources at the South West RDA, said: “The ability to deploy commercial installations is crucial to the development of the marine energy industry in the South West and this study will map the potential over the next 20 years.
“It will provide data invaluable to the industry and will help ensure that marine renewables are given due consideration in future discussions about planning for the South West’s marine environment. This includes the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for marine energy confirmed by the UK Government today, which we welcome. We have long championed the need for an SEA as an essential pre-cursor to licensing areas of sea for commercial development, and we look forward to its swift progress.”
The RDA’s resource study has been welcomed by Chris Bale, Chief Executive of Ocean Electric Power, a marine renewable energy project development company based in Plymouth.
He said: “Marine renewables is a nascent industry with the potential to make an enormous contribution to tackling climate change and boosting the economy, but it needs support. What’s important is that marine spatial planning policy doesn’t compromise the emergence of this important sector, so the RDA’s study is very timely.”
The South West was the first area of the UK to be designated a Low Carbon Economic Area because of its strength in marine renewables in July last year.
The South West RDA’s flagship marine energy project is Wave Hub, which will create the world’s largest test site for wave energy technology by building a grid-connected socket on the seabed, 10 miles off the coast, to which wave power devices can be connected and their performance evaluated.
The first phase of onshore construction was completed last month and work began this week on a new electricity sub-station in Hayle where Wave Hub’s subsea cable will come ashore on the north coast of Cornwall.
Wave Hub will be completed this year with the first wave energy devices expected to be deployed in 2011.
The £42M project is being funded with £12.5M from the South West RDA, £20M from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme and £9.5M from the UK government.
PMSS, which has offices in Bath, has particular expertise in the marine environment, working on wave and tidal projects with companies such as Marine Current Turbines, Aquamarine Power, Atlantis Resources, Scottish Power Renewables and with the public sector.
