UK’s first marine energy park to open in south west

The UK has invested more than £ 100 million into its marine energy industry based in the south west. The latest proposals outline a scheme to develop a park that could stretch from Bristol, to Cornwall and out to the Isles of Scilly. The first wave farms, capable of generating 10 - 30 MW will be positioned off the north of Cornwall.

The developers of the scheme, Regen SW, have stated that from 2018, larger farms capable of producing 100 MW or more could be positioned in deeper water. This is in line with a report by the UK’s Offshore Renewables Resource Assessment and Development project that predicts that more than 1240 MW could be produced from wave farms by 2030.

The report also stated that, “This figure could be considerably higher if wave energy technology is successful in driving down costs to become competitive with offshore wind and to make it economically viable to exploit resources greater than 50 km from shore.”

Some estimates suggest that the UK alone will be able to produce a potential 27 GW of power from wave farms by 2050. Investment in this sector could also prove to be a possible boon for the UK economy by, according to the UK energy and climate minister, Greg Barker, “supporting thousands of jobs in a sector worth a possible £ 15 billion … by 2050.”

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