funding news
08/03/2010 - Tidal Technologies R&D Fund Opens
Up to £9 million government funding is on offer to improve the reliability and reduce the cost of wave and tidal technologies.
Innovation agency the Technology Strategy Board, in partnership with the South West Regional Development Agency, has launched a new collaborative R&D competition.
Wave and Tidal Stream Energy Technologies: Reducing Costs and Improving Performance will offer grants ranging from £250,000 to £2.5 million under the following two themes:
- Enhancing the performance of existing wave and tidal stream devices.
- Progressing novel concept devices.
The competition is open to applications from wave and tidal stream device manufacturers and other relevant organisations that work to develop the supply chains and skills needed to deploy these technologies.
Proposals must be industry-led, involve a minimum of two partners, and be business-to-business or science-to-business.
Applications must be made by 29 April, with the winning bids set to be revealed during June.
Announcing the competitions last month, Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board said:
“To fully realise the marine energy potential in the UK, there are a number of technological challenges that must still be tackled, ranging from proving which technological solutions will most successfully harness marine energy, to reducing the cost of the energy produced to make the technology competitive with other renewable energy solutions.”
Stephen Peacock, executive director of enterprise and innovation at SWRDA, added:
“It will accelerate the pace of marine renewables development in the UK, reinforce the South West’s status as the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area and complement the £20 million we are investing in Wave Hub and marine energy research.”
A similar competition offering a further £3 million funding will be launched in September that will target pre-commercial, full-scale wave and tidal stream devices.
Further information about both competitions can be downloaded from the Technology Strategy Board website (opens a new window)
Source: Technology Strategy Board, 08/03/2010
