15 Irish marine energy projects receive €4.3m in funding

24 Feb 2016

15 of the country’s most advanced marine energy projects have been awarded €4.3m in grants from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

The Irish marine energy sector is one of the fastest growing in Ireland in terms of renewable energy, coming second to wind energy as Ireland’s greatest source of renewable power.

Now, at the International Conference for Ocean Energy in Edinburgh, the SEAI has announced that 15 Irish projects are to receive funding under the Prototype Development Fund.

Many of the organisations aiming to establish marine energy as a viable alternative to fossil fuels ahead of our agreed target of 16pc renewables by 2020 have headed over to Edinburgh, including the Government’s representative, the Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI), the Lir National Ocean Test Facility, Smartbay, and the Marine Institute of Ireland.

Could be worth €15bn by 2050

Additionally, it has also been announced that four Irish organisations – University College Cork, DP Energy, EireComposites and TFI – have received a total of €1.5m in EU funding for the development of a floating tidal energy device as part of a €10m Scottish project.

Speaking of the marine energy industry in Ireland, SEAI’s Declan Meally, head of emerging sectors, said: “With a sea area 10 times our land mass, this market has the potential to be worth €15bn to Ireland’s economy by 2050.

“Irish companies are making innovative technology developments and SEAI, since 2009, has made grant offers of almost €12m to 68 technology projects.”