The grant represents up to 60 percent of the funding needed to monitor the environmental impacts associated with the deployment of the project. The findings will then be disseminated for the benefit of the wider marine energy industry.
“The UK’s marine energy industry is world-leading and generating energy from the tides could be a major driver of green growth for us,” said Benj Sykes, Director of Innovation at the Carbon Trust.
“This grant should provide essential insight into the effects of tidal turbines in sensitive marine environments and, as the findings will be made publicly available, benefit the entire industry,” Sykes continued. “Through our Entrepreneurs Fast Track programme we accelerate the UK’s best early stage clean technologies towards commercialisation and the companies behind them from start-up to attractive investment proposition.”
The Carbon Trust Entrepreneurs Fast Track has been supporting Tidal Energy Ltd, a tidal energy device developer, with advice on commercialising its technology since February 2011.
Earlier this year, Tidal Energy obtained consent from the Welsh Government (WG) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to install its 1.2MW DeltaStream device in Welsh waters.
“We were accepted onto the Carbon Trust’s Entrepreneurs Fast Track programme earlier this year, in order to obtain the commercial advice and support we needed to take our renewable tidal technology to market,” said Chris Williams, development director at Tidal Energy Ltd. “We have benefited from the Carbon Trust’s considerable expertise and are now delighted to have been awarded [this] funding to conduct environmental assessments for our Ramsey Sound project.”
The grant, matched by a contribution from Tidal Energy Ltd., will enable underwater monitoring techniques and study of the interaction of the tidal energy device with the surrounding marine environment.
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