British wave and tidal power research groups are to collaborate under the umbrella of the newly launched UK Centre for Marine Renewable Energy.
The partnership has been established to provide a well-equipped base for research, development, testing and certification with much of the work to be carried out in the north of the UK.
The centre brings together researchers from three Scottish institutions; the University of Edinburgh, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, as well as the New and Renewable Energy Centre in Northumberland in the north-east of England.
The launch follows an earlier announcement that the UK Department of Trade and Industry would allocate the equivalent of around US$90M towards a Marine Renewables Deployment Fund with the aim of pushing research and development work into commercial deployment stages.
Andrew Mill, managing director of EMEC said the new agreement demonstrated commitment to marine renewable energy, adding: ‘we can offer important support directly through our test facilities and our work on standards. In other areas we would hope to offer an overview of the expertise available in the UK, and to commission work where there are gaps to meet the skills requirements for future developments.’
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