Mapping marine power

8 March 2010

The South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) has appointed renewable energy consultancy PMSS to lead the £100,000 study. It will examine the potential for wave, tidal and offshore wind installations up to 2030.

PMSS, which has offices in Bath, is a consultancy with expertise in the marine environment, working on wave and tidal projects with companies such as Marine Current Turbines, Aquamarine Power, Atlantis Resources, and Scottish Power Renewables, as well as the public sector.

The announcement was made at the RenewableUK Wave and Tidal conference in London, during an update from the RDA about its Wave Hub marine energy project in Cornwall.

Claire Gibson, director of sustainable resources at the South West RDA, said: ’The ability to deploy commercial installations is crucial to the development of the marine energy industry in the south west and this study will map the potential over the next 20 years, providing invaluable data to industry.’

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.