TEN IRISH ocean energy companies have been granted €4.3 million in development funding by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).
Grants range from €20,000 to €2 million and companies benefiting include Wavebob and Ocean Energy, which have been undergoing prototype wave energy trials in Galway Bay, and OpenHydro, which is spearheading development of tidal power.
The Marine Renewables Industry Association (MRIA), a new industry lobby group, and companies such as Technology from Ideas Ltd in Waterford have been given funding for research and feasibility studies.
SEI, the statutory authority charged with promoting and assisting the development of sustainable energy, is administering key elements of the €26 million programme announced in January 2008 for the sector by Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan. This includes developing the State’s wave energy test site off Annagh Head in north Mayo.
Prof Owen Lewis, SEI chief executive, said the investment was essential to “help make Ireland a centre for excellence in ocean technology.
“The Government has set a target of having 500mw of ocean energy connected to the national grid by 2020. SEI’s ocean energy development unit is working closely with development companies to test their technologies and make them not only operationally but also commercially viable.”
A white paper prepared by the MRIA says that minor but significant changes to the current legislative system would give a major fillip to the sector and to Ireland’s commitments on tackling climate change.
The Department of Energy has said that responsibility for foreshore legislation is still under transfer from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to the Department of the Environment.
