EMEC expands its international influence
An international collaboration agreement has been signed between the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) based in Orkney, Scotland, and the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University (ERI@N), Singapore, to support further development of the marine renewable energy industry in Southeast Asia.
EMEC, the world’s first and leading facility for wave and tidal energy converters, will advise the University on the set-up of scale test facilities in Singapore; offering a different climate and sea conditions to EMEC’s own scale test sites in Orkney.
A memorandum of understanding was signed in Singapore last month by Stuart Baird, EMEC’s operations director, and Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar, executive director of ERI@N, after Mr Baird spoke at the Asia Future Energy Forum, part of Singapore International Energy Week.
Scottish Government’s Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, said about the agreement: “This is the latest in a number of agreements that have been established by EMEC not just in Southeast Asia but in Oregon, USA; Nova Scotia, Canada; China; South Korea; Japan; and Taiwan.
“With the signing of this memorandum of understanding, we are seeing yet another region opening up for the marine energy market. It is a further example of Scotland’s impressive global reach. We will continue to look beyond our borders to promote Scottish marine energy expertise and know how, and to develop partnerships with businesses, research institutes and governments around the world.”
This is the fifth partnership EMEC has made in Asia, having signed similar agreements with the Ocean Energy Association of Japan, Ocean University of China, Incheon Metropolitan City in South Korea and National Taiwan Ocean University. EMEC has also formed strategic alliances with The Fundy Ocean Energy Centre in Nova Scotia, Canada, and the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Centre in Oregon, USA.
EMEC’s newly appointed commercial director, Oliver Wragg commented: “It’s important that we work with other countries around the world to ensure there is a global market waiting for our clients who are testing devices in Orkney today. With 14 full scale test berths, and facilities for smaller scale demonstration, we continue to look at ways in which we can provide for our current and future customers both in Orkney and across the globe.”
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