The first joint call of the Ocean Energy European Research Area Network (ERA-NET) which is opening up opportunities for ocean renewables innovation in Europe, will open for business next week.
Companies and research organisations from countries such as the UK, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland, Belgium (Flanders), Netherlands and Sweden, will be eligible to apply for funding for collaborative research and innovation projects when the fund opens for applications on October 23.
Scottish Enterprise will contribute £450,000 towards the €7 million research and development fund.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing commented:
“The ocean energy sector is a high priority for Scotland which is why I’m delighted to see Scottish Enterprise is investing £450,000 in this fund.”
“This is an opportunity for Scottish companies to develop ocean energy technologies and research new tools and methods to tackle some of the key challenges which exist in the sector.
“Our ambition for Scotland’s emerging wave and tidal sectors remains great. Developments such as the MeyGen tidal power project in the Pentland Firth takes our ambition to the next level and further cements Scotland’s reputation as a world leader in deploying renewables technology.”
The Ocean Energy ERA-NET is a consortium of 16 research, economic development and energy agencies from nine member states - UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal.
The partners are all responsible for funding or managing research programmes in their country or region, and the EU funding provides support for them to work together to share knowledge and experience, develop a shared agenda and action plan and run joint calls for transnational, collaborative research and innovation projects.
EU Report says Europe is world leader in ocean energy
Earlier this year a report from the European Commission found that Europe is the world leader in ocean energy. The findings in the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission report on European marine energy technology and innovation show that Europe is currently the world leader in ocean energy technology, with more than 50% of global RD&D investments taking place in the EU.
In 2011, Europe invested 125 million euros in ocean energy. Half of this investment came from industry and a fifth from EU funds. With UK, France, and Norway leading the way of innovation, a number of European countries are deeply involved in developing the sector.
The report says that European countries located on the continent’s Atlantic arc – the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Denmark and Norway – have a high potential for developing marineenergy technology.
Some of the strongest currents in the world are found around Orkney (UK), Pentland Firth (UK) and Anglesey (UK). Accessible tidal resources in the United Kingdom alone have been estimated at 95TWh/yr, with a further 69TWh/yr potentially available via wave power.
Given this potential, the report says some European countries are planning to install wave and tidal plants (2118 MW in Europe) by 2020 able to generate 5992 GWh (21.6 PJ) of electricity. In 2020, the largest volume of wave and tidal energy will be generated in the United Kingdom (3950 GWh) and in France (1150 GWh).
In addition, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden have the possibility to exploit localised resources.
The report also points out that in terms of knowledge creation, the UK shows outstanding scientific performance. The number of British institutes working on marine energy topics is large (91) – three times greater compared to France (31), Spain (30) and Ireland (22).
Click here for more information about the ERA-NET call.
Click here to read the report in full