AquaMarine Power Benefits from Marine Renewable Development Package

AquaMarine Power

AquaMarine Power Oyster

AquaMarine Power

Wave energy developer Aquamarine Power  has recieved a £60m package for marine renewable energy development  as part of a government announcment made yesterday [July 15] by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) under The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan.

The package includes £9.5m for the Wave Hub in Cornwall; £10m for the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) in Northumberland; £10m South West Regional Support for deployment and R&D and £8m to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

Critically, it includes a £22m Marine Renewables Proving Fund to support developers testing & developing pre-commercial prototypes.

Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power, commented:

There is a world-wide race to develop marine renewable technology and – with the correct government support – the UK has the potential to capitalise on this and create a substantial manufacturing and export industry. The £22m Marine Renewables Proving Fund will provide vital assistance for developers such as Aquamarine Power to take their devices from full-scale demonstrators to commercial reality.

However the industry still requires substantial R&D funding and infrastructure investment in ports, manufacturing and the electricity transmission network.

The prize for success will be considerable – Germany and Denmark have built multi-billion pound industries by taking the lead in wind technology. With the right support the UK could make a similar success of wave and tidal technology.

Scotland has Europe’s best wave resources and is the natural home for this exciting new industry.

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Posted by Gordon Smith on Jul 16 2009. Filed under Latest Ocean News, Ocean Power Technologies & Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.