Six renewables developers to begin testing

Support from the EU-funded FORESEA (Funding Ocean Renewable Energy through Strategic European Action) programme will enable the developers to deploy their technologies at the SmartBay Ireland marine and renewable energy test site, 4.5km east of Spiddal in County Galway.

John Breslin, general manager of SmartBay Ireland, said the funding approval “marks the beginning of a new phase for the development sustainable low carbon technologies in Ireland, with a significant increase in the planned testing of a range of promising devices in the SmartBay Test Site.”

He added: “We’re looking forward to working with developers to validate their technologies in real-sea conditions and put them on the road to market.”

Free site access

FORESEA’s user selection board awarded a ‘Recommendation for Support” to demonstration projects led by Sea Power, Bluwind Power, Marine Power Systems, Blue Ocean Monitoring, UGen and Calwave. A final award of support is secured by the developer upon contract with the test centre.

The announcement follows the granting of a foreshore license to the SmartBay test site in December.

Set up in 2016, FORESEA is an €11m project that provides offshore renewable energy developers with free access to North-West Europe’s network of test centres, where they can undertake testing in real sea conditions.

The 4th and final FORESEA call for applications opened on 11 October and runs until 29 June.

By Rebecca Jeffrey