The South West's ambition to be a global centre for marine energy research has received a further boost with a £1.2 million investment in a new wave tank testing facility.

The wave tanks are being funded by the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency) as part of the Agency's three-year £7.3 million investment in the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE), and will be located at the University of Plymouth.

The facility will be unique in the UK because it will allow model testing in both multi-directional waves and variable direction currents, and will also be able to model shallow and deep water conditions. It will enable the testing of scale models of wave and tidal energy devices individually and in arrays.


PRIMaRE is a £12.6 million project set up two years ago by the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, with funding from the South West RDA.

It boasts 15 world-class academic staff and 60 researchers dedicated to the support and development of the marine renewable energy sector. PRIMaRE, and the wave tank facility, support and complement the South West RDA's pioneering £42 million Wave Hub project, which will create the world's largest wave energy test site 10 miles of the Cornish coast and will be commissioned next year.

The investment has been welcomed by Business Minister Lord Drayson who said: "This wave tank will play to the UK's strengths - science, engineering, waves and tides - to help us establish a global lead in developing the technologies necessary to produce this renewable energy supply. Wave technology will be key to future of energy generation and the South West, the UK's first Low Carbon Economic Area, has the potential and expertise to make this happen."

(CD/KMcA)