Organizations working with wave energy will be able to bid for a share of the £20 million kitty ((US$31.6 million) that the government launched yesterday.
The project is called Marine Energy Array Demonstrator (MEAD) and it will support two pre-commercial projects to showcase the operation of wave and/or tidal devices in an array formation.
Eligibility criteria includes the ability to generate a minimum of 7 GWh per year and the use of at least three generating devices, previously demonstrated at full scale in sea conditions. Projects must be up and running by the end of March 2016.
“This scheme will take us one vital step closer to realizing our ambitions of generating electricity from the waves and tides, powering homes and businesses across the whole of the UK with clean, green electricity,” said Energy and Climate Change minister Greg Barker.
The MEAD funding is part of the UK government’s £200 million development fund for low carbon technologies and will run in parallel to a series of similar funding schemes for early stage marine energy projects operated by other agencies, such as the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).
Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.
