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South West RDA welcomes marine energy blueprint
15 March 2010
The South West RDA (Regional Development Agency) has welcomed
the Government’s Marine Energy Action Plan, which sets out a vision
for what marine energy can do for the UK and how it can happen.
The plan has been published today by the Department for Energy
and Climate Change (DECC) and was officially launched by Minister
of State for Energy, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath.
Lord Hunt predicted that marine energy could provide enough
power for 15 million homes and save 70 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide by 2050, and provide up to 16,000 jobs.
The RDA, which is investing millions of pounds to support the
development of a marine energy industry in the South West, worked
closely with DECC in drawing up the plan.
The South West was named the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area
last year in recognition of its excellence in marine
renewables.
Claire Gibson, Director of Sustainable Resources at the South
West RDA and a member of the Marine Energy Action Plan steering
group, said: “This action plan reiterates the Government’s
commitment to the marine energy sector and builds on the activity
we have been pioneering in South West England through our Wave Hub
project, and investment in research and supply chain
development.
“It has also been a real collaborative effort between the public
and private sector to agree priorities, and that ongoing
co-operation is vital if we are to maintain the UK’s position at
the vanguard of marine renewables development.”
Among the recommendations in the action plan is a UK-wide
co-ordination group for planning and approving marine renewables
projects, a review of the Renewables Obligation banding later this
year, addressing market failure in funding technology development,
and building a marine energy supply chain.
Lord Hunt also announced a Ministerial Task Force on Marine
Energy that will bring together key players to oversee future work
on the action plan.
Meanwhile the RDA continues to support the industry through its
£42 million Wave Hub project currently under construction in
Cornwall. This will create the world’s largest test site for wave
energy devices and is on course to be completed this year, with the
first devices deployed in 2011.
Last week (March 4) the South West RDA announced a £100,000
study to map offshore renewable energy potential around the coast
of South West England. It will examine the potential for wave,
tidal and offshore wind installations up to 2030 and feed into the
Government’s Strategic Environmental Assessment for marine energy,
which was also confirmed last week.
The South West RDA is also investing up to £2 million in a £12
million package from the Technology Strategy Board to help
innovative businesses develop the wave and tidal technologies of
the future.
And it has committed £7.3 million over three years to the
Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy, a
collaboration between the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth that
boasts one of the highest concentrations of marine renewables
expertise anywhere in the world.
Ends
For more information contact Jason Clark, on 01208-77900 or
via
jason.clark@dca-pr.co.uk
Notes to Editors
- The South West RDA works for and promotes a modern, stronger
and more resilient economy across South West England. Our work
involves creating better jobs, successful businesses, more
prosperous cities, towns and villages within an economy that uses
less carbon and will still be thriving in 20, 50 and 100 years
time. Find out more at www.southwestrda.org.uk.
- The full Marine Energy Action plan is available to download at
www.decc.gov.uk.
- Wave Hub is a major marine renewables infrastructure project
that will create an electrical ‘socket’ on the seabed in some 50
metres of water around 16kms (10 miles) off the coast of Cornwall
in South West England and connected to the National Grid via a
subsea cable. Groups of wave energy devices will be connected to
Wave Hub and float on or just below the surface of the sea to
assess how well they work and how much power they generate before
going into full commercial production. There are four berths
available at Wave Hub, each covering two square kilometres. Wave
Hub will have an initial maximum capacity of 20MW (enough
electricity to power approximately 7,000 homes) but has been
designed with the potential to scale up to 50MW in the future. The
project will be built in the summer of 2010 with the first wave
energy devices expected to be deployed in 2011.
- Legal agreements have been signed with leading renewable energy
company Ocean Power Technologies Limited to take the first berth at
Wave Hub using its PowerBuoy wave energy converter. Images of
PowerBuoy can be downloaded at www.flickr.com/photos/southwestengland.
Discussions are ongoing with other device developers.
- JDR Cable Systems Ltd has been appointed to manufacture the
armoured 26.5 km (16.5 mile) 33kV cable and hub assembly for Wave
Hub at its factory in Hartlepool in a contract worth £7.6 million.
The cable will weigh 1,500 tonnes. The hub will be about the size
of a Mini car and sit on the seabed. It will split the main cable
linking it to the National Grid on shore into four 300m cables to
which groups of wave energy devices can be attached and monitored
for how they perform.
- Powermann Ltd of Poole in Dorset has been appointed to handle
the £1 million onshore electrical works that will connect Wave Hub
to the UK’s National Grid network.
- In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly the Convergence Programmes
are made up of European Regional Development Fund (£347 million)
and European Social Fund (£153 million). Convergence Programmes
will run until 2013 and follow the successful Objective One
Programme and prior to that Objective 5b. For further information
see: www.convergencecornwall.com.
Convergence helpline telephone: 0800 0280120.