The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), based in Orkney, Scotland, has signed an agreement with Marine Energy Wales to provide further support to the Marine Energy Test Area (META) in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
This builds on an initial collaboration between the two parties in 2018 which resulted in EMEC providing input into the initial feasibility stage of the META project. EMEC guided the development of META providing strategic advice on site selection, developer requirements, operational procedures and commercial development, drawing on EMEC’s 17 years of experience and knowledge in setting up and operating ocean energy test sites.
META consists of eight pre-consented, non-grid connected sites located in and around the Milford Haven Waterway, de-risking the development of marine energy projects by providing the opportunity to test scaled devices, sub-assemblies and components. The sites are accessible yet still representative of real sea environments with phase 1 of the project launched in September 2019. The Milford Haven Waterway is the largest estuary in Wales and one of the deepest natural harbours in the world.
Jess Hooper, Marine Energy Wales’ lead said:
“We see our collaboration with EMEC as really important in developing our META project and one that will strengthen the UK’s low carbon innovation offer. We are also continuing to work closely with the ORE Catapult to ensure META supports the Marine Energy Engineering Centre of Excellence and the wider £60M Pembroke Dock Marine Swansea City Deal project.
EMEC will now support the implementation of META’s processes and procedures to ensure safe and efficient operation of the facility, providing guidance on accident incident investigation, developer lifecycle, data acquisition, permitting, consenting, installation, and decommissioning.”
(Source: EMEC)