Marine

The UK holds a pre-eminent position in the field of marine renewable energy development.  This can be attributed to three factors:

• Abundant wave and tidal stream resources with a significant number of exploitable locations around the coast
• An excellent research base built on world-class academic institutions
• A rich heritage of marine engineering gained, in particular, from the North Sea oil and gas industry

Academic research into wave and tidal stream energy generation is led by the SUPERGEN Marine consortium of leading universities. The group conducts research into complimentary areas of marine renewable energy research and includes excellent tank testing facilities. 

Device developers can further develop concepts at the scaled prototype stage using the facilities at the New and Renewable Energy Research Centre (NaREC).

Full-scale prototype facilities at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney provide open sea conditions and grid connection for near-commercial devices.  A number of overseas device developers are looking to base major elements of their development programmes in the UK in order to take advantage of both the skill and facilities available.

The UK is home to a very significant proportion of the leading wave and tidal stream energy designs.  For further information you can visit the website of BWEA Marine, the industry trade association, which contains detail on some of the leading devices.