Offshore Renewables

The South West has the potential to become one of the world's leading centres for offshore renewable energy. This potential is being realised though its designation as the UK’s first marine energy park. Backed by a partnership of national and local government, research organisations and industry; the South West Marine Energy Park (South West MEP) aims to create a business environment that will foster business collaboration, support technology development and accelerate the commercial expansion of the marine energy sector.

To find out more about the South West MEP and how it can support your business please have a look at its dedicated page or dowload a copy of its prospectus.

This opportunity for the south west to become one of the worlds leading centres of offshore renewable energy is underpinned by its combination of strong offshore energy resources, its clusters of experienced and renown marine companies and its excellent research & development organisations:

Offshore Energy Resource:

A recent study has concluded that there is the potential for up to 9.22 GW installed capacity of offshore renewables by 2030 including conventional and floating wind, wave energy and tidal stream. The Atlantic Array wind farm in the Bristol Channel, the Navitus Bay wind park off the coast of Dorset and the Wave Hub project off the coast of Cornwall are the first large scale projects in development.
 

Cluster of Renowned Companies:

The south west is already home to a number of companies that are world-leading in their field and have already worked on offshore renewable projects in the UK and in Europe. To highlight a couple of examples, the south west has experts in subsea services, marine operations companies, marine engineering consultancies and environmental surveying companies. To see how some of these companies have been active in marine energy recently look at our spotlight on SW companies rolling article or our supply chain page.

World Class Research Organisations:

Collaboration between the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter has lead to the Peninsula Research Institute of Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) which supports academics as well as enabling knowledge transfer between the research and commercial enterprises. The topic areas are wide and include resource assessment, technology development and environmental monitoring. Other south west university departments, such as the University of Bristol’s Advanced Composites Centre and University of Bath’s Centre for Power Transmission and Control are using a knowledge base built upon traditional industries, applying them to emerging technologies.

For the south west to grasp this golden opportunity, organisations in these areas need to work together to define the area as a centre for marine and offshore renewables.

What We Do

Regen SW has been at the forefront in developing offshore renewables in the south west since 2003. We helped design the Wave Hub concept and secure early stage funding for that project. We commissioned the first analysis of marine energy resources in the region and identified the economic potential that the industry may bring to the south west. We also supported the first offshore wind farm developers in the region; a project which has since evolved into the 1.5 GW Atlantic Array.

Regen SW is supporting the supply chain for offshore renewables through its directory of marine energy companies, by organising networking events with key developers, manufacturers and service companies and working with ports to identify new opportunities for development.

To ensure that your your company is visible within the south west offshore renewables supply chain, get listed in our Marine directory. Alternatively, you can us this site to find out about the latest offshore renewables news and key upcoming events in our calender.