Ocean energy research is to benefit from a €10 million "maritime campus" plan which Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan will announce in Cork today.
"Feed-in" tariffs for ocean energy companies supplying the national grid will also be provided for as part of a multimillion-euro renewable energy initiative by Mr Ryan's department.
University College Cork's college of science, engineering and food science, its hydraulic and maritime research centre and its coastal and marine resources centre will collaborate with Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), the Naval Service and the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, in the research programme as part of a "maritime campus".
The €10 million grant over four years is part of a €13.16 million allocation approved in the Budget for energy research. Other participants have included the Marine Institute, Enterprise Ireland, the UCC Environmental Research Institute and Cork-based maritime technology company, Transas.
UCC's hydraulic and maritime research centre has developed considerable expertise in wave energy and its work received a boost last year when a national ocean energy strategy was published by former energy and marine minister Noel Dempsey.
This strategy confirmed that Ireland has one of the most energetic wave climates. UCC's team was nominated to work with the Marine Institute, Sustainable Energy Ireland, Wavebob Ltd and Ocean Energy Ltd on a test site off Spiddal, Co Galway, which has reported positive results.
Marine Institute research has shown that the wave energy off Mayo's Mullet peninsula and areas off Kerry and Clare qualify for "full-scale" testing.
Sustainable Energy Ireland has estimated that the ocean energy market may be worth €2 billion by 2025. An all-island grid study commissioned by Mr Ryan's department and his Northern counterpart said it was "feasible" that 42 per cent of electricity needs could be generated from renewable sources by that date.