Funding

For information about funding on a UK level visit DECC’s website which provides information on grants for  early-stage research and development funding for marine energy through the Research Council’s SuperGen Marine programme. Later-stage demonstration and deployment funding comes through various bodies, such as the Technology Standards Board (TSB), the Carbon Trust and the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) While there is some overlap in the development stages each funding body covers, they offer support in different ways. So it is worth contacting each funding body to find out which is best for you.

For more information about funding and the proposed Marine Action Plan watch the video given by Alan Morgan (DECC) at the Pembrokeshire Marine Renewable Energy Industry Seminar below.

Marine Renewables – 02 – Alan Morgan on PCF Vimeo.

The European Commission yesterday (November 9 2010) launched a new fund worth between €4-5 billion (£3.4-4.3 billion) to subsidise “innovative” renewable energy projects and Carbon Capture and Storage schemes across the European Union. 

 The New Entrants Reserve ‘NER300′ – a joint fund managed by the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and EU member states – will co-fund at least eight CCS and 34 renewable energy projects across the EU as part of a competitive process from projects put forward by member states. Under the terms of the competition, each member state could be awarded funding for up to three projects through the NER process. If awarded, NER funding could provide support of up to 50% of the eligible costs of a project. The European Commission announced the first Call for Proposals for projects under the NER300 competition today. The closing date for project sponsors to submit application forms to their member states is February 9 2011.

Then, the deadline for member states to complete an eligibility assessment and forward the application with the submission forms to the European Investment Bank is May 9 2011.

Projects

The breakdown of renewables projects set to benefit from the fund includes:

• Nine bioenergy
• Five concentrated solar power
• Three solar photovoltaic
• Six wind
• Four geothermal
• Three ocean (wave and tidal power, ocean thermal energy conversion)
• One hydroelectric
• Three distributed renewables management (smart grids)

For more information Click HERE

£12m to help quicken pace of innovation in wave and tidal technologies

10 February 2010 Innovative businesses are being invited by the Government-backed Technology Strategy Board to compete for up to £12m of investment during 2010 to help develop the wave and tidal technologies of the future. Two new collaborative R&D competitions from the board are designed to support innovation that will lead to the cost effective exploitation of UK and global wave and tidal stream resources.

The first £9m call includes an investment of up to £2m from the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA), which is also developing the Wave Hub project off the coast of Cornwall. The competition opens in March and focuses on driving down the cost of energy and improving the reliability of wave and tidal stream energy devices. It is designed to complement a second £3m call due to open in September that focuses on supporting the deployment of pre-commercial full scale devices installed and operating in the sea. The call will focus on monitoring the performance of devices and ensuring that they are reliable and can be installed and maintained effectively.

This is specifically aimed at businesses that are already working towards full scale deployment of their technology. Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: “Wave and tidal stream technologies are at an early stage of development and it is expected that they will be a significant part of the renewable energy mix needed in the UK by 2050 if we are to meet our targets for reducing greenhouse gases emissions. “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.”

Both competitions are complementary to the Carbon Trust’s Marine Renewable Proving Fund. Together, these activities aim to advance wave and tidal stream technologies along the innovation chain in a concerted effort to grow business opportunities and achieve the Government’s Renewable Energy targets. Companies and other organisations seeking further information about these and other funding competitions should visit the Competitions page of the Technology Strategy Board website – http://www.innovateuk.org/  - email competitions@tsb.gov.uk  or phone the Competitions Helpline at 0300 321 4357 

Key deadlines
Competition opens 13 September 2010
Briefing day 22 September 2010
Registration of intent to submit (compulsory) 14 October 2010
Deadline for receipt of applications 21 October 2010 (noon)
Inform applicants of decision 19 November 2010

Offshore Wind Accelerator

 The offshore wind supply chain got a double boost today (March 2010) as David Kidney, Minister for Energy and Climate Change, announced a major extension of the  programme worth up to £4.8m, and opened the UK’s first training tower for offshore wind.

The Offshore Wind Accelerator is a unique research and development collaboration between the Carbon Trust and leading offshore wind developers that focuses on developing innovative technologies that have real potential to cut the cost of future wind farm developments.

Marine Energy Accelerator 

The Marine Energy Accelerator is helping marine energy cost reduction through 3 distinct strands. There are currently no calls to action open and our funds have already been committed to these areas:

Next generation concepts – Developing new device concepts that could significantly marine energy lower costs
Device components -Research into lowering costs of specific components in existing marine energy devices
Installation, operation & maintenance – Developing strategies on how to improve ways marine energy devices can be installed, operated and maintained at a lower cost. 

The Marine Energy Accelerator is investing up to £3.5m and operates until March 2010.  Click Here for more information

Sustainable Development Fund

A Welsh Assembly Government initiative to develop innovative sustainable projects that help improve the quality of life for current and future generations. The Fund supports proposals that focus on environmental, social, cultural and economic aspects of life.

What projects are suitable for this Fund?

Those involving the main sustainability themes:

• effective protection of the environment
• careful use of natural resorces
• social progress recognising the needs of all people
• maintaining sustainable levels of economic growth

Projects can range from the locally-based to those applying across the National Park. Partnership working and community support is desirable.

For more information visit http://www.pcnpa.org.uk/website/default.asp?SID=327