UK to unlock marine energy potential

UK Marine Energy Potential

A new GBP£8 million project run by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is to unlock the UK's marine energy potential.

It will focus on making the necessary tools that can accurately estimate the energy yield of major wave and tidal systems. The project, called Performance Assessment of Wave and Tidal Array Systems (PerAWaT), is a cooperation between various groups including EDF Energy, EON, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oxford, Queen's University Belfast and the University of Manchester.

All hope to develop a series of models to predict the performance of wave and tidal stream generator arrays, reports FutureEnergies.com.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently hit out at various environmentalists and "NIMBY" protesters who look to put a halt to the UK's plans to drive forward with wind and wave energy production.

Developments held back

ETI CEO, Dr David Clark, said of the project: "Although the UK has huge marine potential, investment is being held back by uncertainty about the overall costs involved and the potential returns on investment in wave and tidal technologies."

"This project will deliver greatly improved modelling tools to provide more accurate forecasting of energy yields and reduce the uncertainty and investment risk faced by project developers when planning large scale wave and tidal energy schemes."

The project brings together universities, utilities and an engineering consultancy which, in combination, will provide the skills and facilities necessary to significantly enhance our understanding of the performance of wave and tidal stream energy farms. This understanding can then be encapsulated in robust validated numerical models for use by the wider industry.

The Energy Technologies Institute is a UK based company formed from global industries and the UK Government. The ETI brings together projects and partnerships that create affordable, reliable, clean energy for heat, power and transport.

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