NEWS > Future energy from the sea
Published: Wednesday, 10 Mar, 2010
A project to map offshore renewable energy potential around the coast of South West England was announced on 04 March 2010. The South West Regional Development Agency has appointed renewable energy consultancy PMSS to lead the GBP100,000 study. It will examine the potential for wave, tidal and offshore wind installations up to 2030. This will inform future investment ecisions by the industry
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A project to map offshore renewable energy potential around the coast of South West England was announced on 04 March 2010. The South West Regional Development Agency has appointed renewable energy consultancy PMSS to lead the GBP100,000 study. It will examine the potential for wave, tidal and offshore wind installations up to 2030. This 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 its leading role in the development of marine renewables.The announcement was made the RenewableUK Wave and Tidal conference in London on 04 March 2010, during an update from the RDA about its pioneering Wave Hub marine energy project in Cornwall.
PMSS, which has offices in Bath, is a leading consultancy in renewables with 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.
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 GBP42 million project is being funded with GBP12.5 million from the South West RDA, GBP20 million from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme and GBP9.5 million from the UK government.
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