Made by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), the investment will help to finance research and development focusing on supporting and underpinning the deployment of pre-commercial devices installed and operating in the sea.
The companies leading the three projects are Bauer Renewables, Pelamis Wave Power and Marine Current Turbines.
The total value of the research and development work, including contributions from the participating companies, will be more than £9m. Seven British companies and three universities will be involved in the work.
According to the TSB, Bauer plans to design, manufacture and test novel seabed-drilling technology for the installation of underwater device foundations aiming to reduce the cost of installation and deployment of tidal-energy devices.
Pelamis will, for the first time, test two P2 wave-energy machines in an array to prove and demonstrate survivability, reliability, operability, maintainability and energy yield.
Finally, Marine Current Turbines will research the impact of tidal arrays on the marine environment, through studies conducted of the Seagen device at Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland.
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