TSB announces Marine Energy – Supporting Array Technologies
New £10 million funding from the Technology Strategy Board, Scottish Enterprise and the Natural Environment Research Council
The government is to invest over £10 million in new research and development to help demonstrate that wave and tidal energy can be generated at scale, and with lower energy production costs.
Marine Energy – Supporting Array Technologies is a competition for collaborative R&D funding that will support the applied research, experimental development and demonstration of innovative technologies that solve common issues faced by those developing and deploying the first marine energy arrays.
The funding – from the Technology Strategy Board, Scottish Enterprise and the Natural Environment Research Council – will support the successful deployment and operation of the first series of wave and tidal arrays while complementing other public funding initiatives such as the Department for Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) Marine Energy Array Deployment capital grant scheme, the Energy Technologies Institute’s (ETI) wave and tidal energy system demonstrator programmes and the Scottish Government's Saltire Prize.
The competition will seek proposals for research and development projects that address themes such as: tidal array cabling; subsea electrical hubs; installation and maintenance vessels for tidal arrays; navigation and collision avoidance and anti-fouling & corrosion.
The results of this competition are expected to help UK businesses to build sustainable economic growth by exploiting new innovative technologies in a growing market and by removing barriers to successful array deployment.
The Technology Strategy Board (www.innovateuk.org) will invest up to £6.5 million in the research and development projects, while Scottish Enterprise (www.scottish-enterprise.com) will invest up to £3 million and NERC (www.nerc.ac.uk) up to £1 million.
The competition opens on 5 March 2012 and a briefing event to provide more information to prospective applicants will be held in London on 14 March 2012. The deadline for registration is 10 April 2012 and expressions of interest must be submitted by 17 April 2012. For further information please visit: Marine Energy SAT or Scottish Enterprise's Energy page.
Commenting on the announcement, Andy McDonald, director of Renewable and Clean Technology at Scottish Enterprise, said, "This new funding for innovative wave and tidal energy generation ideas will enable our marine energy sector to grow apace. The competition has been carefully designed to encourage creative solutions to overcome issues that the sector has identified itself. Scotland already has extensive expertise in this sector, with Scottish companies leading the world in many areas of renewable energy. I would urge Scottish companies to enter this competition and use the funding to explore the new opportunities which collaboration can bring."
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said, "Scotland's waters have enough wave and tidal energy potential to meet our power demands many times over. We are already a world leader in marine renewables and are determined to continue to provide the best environment for the development and deployment of new energy technologies This new funding will further develop innovative technologies here in Scotland and help forge a truly low carbon economy, both here and around the world."
1. The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led government body which works to create economic growth by ensuring that the UK is a global leader in innovation. Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy. For more information please visit: Technology Strategy Board website.
2. The vision of the Technology Strategy Board is for the UK to be a global leader in innovation and a magnet for innovative businesses, where technology is applied rapidly, effectively and sustainably to create wealth and enhance quality of life. Our approach to accelerating the pace of innovation in the UK is captured in our strategy document, Concept to Commercialisation, published in May 2011. This builds on our first strategy, developed in 2008, and sets out new directions, taking into account the challenges and exciting opportunities that lie ahead. To see the new strategy please visit: Concept to Commercialisation.
3. The Technology Strategy Board’s _connect platform provides an effective and powerful way to collaborate online, network and share knowledge with other innovators. It provides a place to work together securely and share information & knowledge. Users can utilise the online tools to work collaboratively, discuss ideas and find events. The networks offer up-to-the minute news on funding, events, articles and publications, plus information about all 15 Knowledge Transfer Networks. Through the networks, users can find potential business partners, entrepreneurs, collaborators, other innovators, researchers and academics.
4. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is the UK's main agency for funding and managing world-class research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. It coordinates some of the world's most exciting research projects, tackling major issues such as climate change, environmental influences on human health, the genetic make-up of life on earth, and much more. NERC receives almost £400 million a year from the government's science budget, which it uses to fund independent research and training in universities and its own research centres. www.nerc.ac.uk
5. The marine energy sector has the potential to provide more than 10% of future electricity in the UK by 2050, and hundreds of megawatts are expected to be deployed by 2020. Exports could also bring high added value to the UK economy over the coming decades. However, breaking the technical barriers to deployment at scale and demonstrating that it can be done at acceptable cost are major challenges. The UK has a global lead in marine energy, with many companies emerging from a strong research and testing environment supported by a strong marine design and operations skill base. Other countries are emerging as key players, however, and UK businesses will keep ahead by demonstrating that their marine energy systems can produce energy more reliably and cheaply, and that, in the longer term, they can compete with other low-carbon technologies.
6. For further information about the Marine Energy – Supporting Array Technologies please visit: Marine Energy SAT.
7. For further information about DECC’s Marine Energy Array Deployment capital grant scheme, please visit: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/wave_tidal/wave_tidal.aspx
8. For further information about ETI’s wave and tidal array cost reduction programmes please visit: http://www.eti.co.uk/technology_programmes/marine
9. For further information about the Scottish Government’s Saltire Prize please visit: http://www.sdi.co.uk/sectors/saltire-prize.aspx.
10. Media enquiries only should be addressed to the Technology Strategy Board’s media relations consultant or manager:
Nick Sheppard, Media Relations Consultant
Mobile: 07824 599644, Email: nick.sheppard@tsb.gov.uk
Claire Cunningham, Media Relations Manager
Mobile: 07554 115745 Email: claire.cunningham@tsb.gov.uk.
11. Companies and other organisations seeking information about Technology Strategy Board funding competitions should visit the Competitions page of the Technology Strategy Board website – Competitions page , email mailto:competitions@innovateuk.org or phone the Competitions Helpline at 0300 321 4357.
12. To see all press releases from the Technology Strategy Board please visit: Press Releases.
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