FORESEA Approves Funding for Offshore Renewable Energy Technologies

The EU-funded FORESEA programme has approved funding for six developers of offshore renewable energy technologies to deploy technologies at the SmartBay Marine and Renewable Energy Test Site.

The announcement marks a new phase in ocean energy development in Ireland, with more technologies than ever planning to hit the water in the coming 2 years.

FORESEA is an €11m project which helps to bring offshore renewable energy technologies to market by providing free access to a world-leading network of test centres. FORESEA’s user selection board awarded a ‘Recommendation for Support” to demonstration projects led by the following technology developers:

• Sea Power
• Bluwind Power
• Marine Power Systems
• Blue Ocean Monitoring
• UGen
• Calwave

A final award of support is secured by the developer upon contract with the test centre.

The announcement follows the granting of a foreshore license to the SmartBay Test Site in December 2017 by Irish Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Damien English.

John Breslin, General Manager of SmartBay Ireland welcomed the awards:
“Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a new phase for the development sustainable low carbon technologies in Ireland, with a significant increase in the planned testing of a range of promising devices in the SmartBay Test Site.

With world-leading expertise and test facilities, and an unparalleled wave resource, marine renewables have huge potential for energy generation and job creation in Ireland. Today’s announcement is an important milestone on the pathway to realising that potential. We’re looking forward to working with developers to validate their technologies in real-sea conditions and put them on the road to market.”

Gareth Stockman, CEO of Marine Power Systems said:
"With an estimated 100GW of ocean energy capacity deployable in Europe alone, the potential economic and environmental benefits to be gained from our oceans are significant. Marine Power Systems is developing its wave energy technology, the WaveSub, to generate clean, reliable and affordable electricity from this vast renewable energy source.

We are delighted to have been recommended for support by FORESEA’s board and look forward to tapping into the expertise and the state of the art facilities at the SmartBay Test Site as we progress on our journey towards full-scale commercial roll out of the WaveSub".

4th FORESEA call now open
The 4th and final FORESEA call for applications opened on 11 October 2017, and aims to help technology developers from other offshore sectors transition into the renewable energy market. The call runs until 29 June 2018.

About SmartBay Ireland
SmartBay Ireland supports the management and promotion of the SmartBay Test Site. The SmartBay Test Site is used for the development of innovative products and services for the global maritime sector. This includes the trial and validation of novel marine sensors, prototype equipment and the collection and dissemination of marine data to national and international users of the facility.