13 new Lead Partners join Marine Energy Council

The companies have joined the Marine Energy Council (MEC) as ‘Lead Partners’, which is a new concept at the council, to represent what the MEC calls the most innovative companies and organisations ’working at the forefront of realising the UK’s 30GW+ of marine energy potential’.

The council now has just under 40 members, says Richard Arnold, policy director at the MEC. The Lead Partners, he says, “take a leadership role as part of the organisation which includes a position on the board, increased prominence with external stakeholders and the ability to influence the direction and activity of the MEC.”

The UK is already at the forefront of tidal power globally, as John Macleod, commercial director of Leask Marine and one of the new Lead Partners, recently explained to Maritime Journal in our latest Seaworker Chronicles podcast.

“I believe that we’ve got the potential to deliver 10 to 20% of the UK’s electricity needs, so install capacity of 30 to 50GW by 2030,” he said. “We’ve got the most advanced tidal development and deployment on the globe.”

MEC chairwoman Sue Barr believes tidal stream and wave energy could have a key role in delivering the UK’s ‘net zero’ ambitions.

“The MEC was created to give tidal stream and wave energy a voice and support efforts to make the UK attractive to investors and technology developers from around the world,” she said.

“Thanks to the support of our Lead Partners our work can continue. With a world-leading pipeline of tidal stream projects, and significant wave energy resource, I look forward to working with the Lead Partners and the new Board in realising the UK’s marine energy potential.”

There is a range of technologies in the tidal sector, as Maritime Journal details here.

As well as Leask Marine, the new Lead Partners include: Swedish wave energy firm CorPower Ocean; EMEC (The European Marine Energy Centre) in Orkney; French tidal stream company HydroQuest; UK tidal stream firm HydroWing; Spanish tidal stream firm Magallanes Renovables; Swedish tidal stream kite company Minesto; Welsh tidal stream firm Morlais; Orkney-based marine energy company Nova Innovation; Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE); Wave Energy Scotland; Scottish Renewables; and Spiralis Energy, a London-based tidal developer.

The council is funded by membership fees.