24 January 2012 | Linton Nightingale
Energy, Water, Europe

 

The UK’s Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, has announced that England’s South West Coast will soon be home to the UK’s first ever Marine Energy Park.

Stretching from Bristol through to Cornwall and as far as the Isles of Scilly, the marine-energy project, according to Baker, will firmly place the region on the international map for leadership in marine renewable energy.

The South West Marine Energy Park will be created through a joint partnership of national and local government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter and industry, including Cornwall’s famous Wave Hub. It is hoped that the bringing together of these organisations will help speed up the process and execution of the ambitious marine project.

“This is a real milestone for the marine industry and for the South West region in securing its place in renewables history as the first official marine energy park. The South West can build on its existing unique mix of renewable energy resource and home-grown academic, technical and industrial expertise,” said Barker on his visit to Bristol where he met with key members of the new initiative. “Marine power has huge potential in the UK not just in contributing to a greener electricity supply and cutting emissions, but in supporting thousands of jobs in a sector worth a possible £15bn to the economy to 2050. The UK is already a world leader in wave and tidal power, so we should capitalise on this leadership to make marine power a real contender in the future energy market,” he added. Energy from the waves or tides has the potential to generate up to 27GW of power in the UK alone by 2050, the equivalent to the power generated by 8 coal-fired power stations.

During his visit, the Minister launched the South West Marine Energy Park Prospectus which outlines how the region’s public and private sector will work together with the government and other key national bodies in the implementation of the project. The work to develop the South West Marine Energy Park has been commissioned by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council. “Cornwall’s marine energy programme is reinforced by more than a thousand years of industrial heritage. The land and the sea have provided the foundation of Cornish entrepreneurship in engineering and innovation, recognised across the world, said the Cabinet member for economy at Cornwall Council, Chris Ridgers, in welcoming the announcement. “Now, in the 21st century, Cornwall continues to provide the perfect balance between resource, people and infrastructure supporting the South West Marine Energy Park and unlocking the potential of a global industry,” added Ridgers.

In the past seven years £100 million has been invested in the south west marine energy industry. Such investment has supported the development of the largest consented area for marine technologies in the world at Cornwall’s Wave Hub, the Fab–Test nursery site at Falmouth, the new marine science building at Plymouth and globally–leading research facilities at Exeter University and the National Composites Centre at Bristol.

Under the banded Renewables Obligation, the UK government is proposing to more than double the amount of financial support to wave and tidal stream technologies. Up to £20 million from DECC’s budget of over £200 million to fund low carbon technologies, announced at the Spending Review, will help progress the development of marine devices from the current large scale prototypes to bigger formations in the sea.

 

Image 01: Climate Action Stock Photos

Image 02: South West Marine Energy Park Prospectus

Image 03: South West Marine Energy Park Prospectus
 

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