Marine Energy Wales has won government financial backing to continue its work in renewable energy projects until 2025.
The initiative, which acts as a single point of access for all forms of marine energy in Wales (wave, tidal stream, tidal range, and floating offshore wind), has been awarded a new three-year grant worth £150,000 per year (£450,000).
Previous business plans have been awarded on a single or two-year funding basis.
Marine Energy Wales, which is managed by Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum, said the funding will enable it to provide specialist support to the offshore wind sector.
This includes the rollout of the 4GW floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea by 2035.
This week, the Crown Estate announced that it had identified five broad ‘areas of search’ for the development of the wind farms.
Out of the five areas identified, four will be leased for development by the Crown Estate with tenders issued by mid-2023.
The Estate also confirmed that Wales will be at the forefront of the renewable project with ports in Port Talbot and Milford Haven vital to its rollout and delivery.
While the Crown Estate said it was too early to give job creation figures, some predict up to 10,000 could be created in Wales from floating wind farm development in the Celtic Sea, with assembly work at Welsh ports and supply chain activities.
Marine Energy Wales has recently appointed a FLOW (floating offshore wind) project coordinator to coordinate an additional membership group called the Celtic Sea Developer Alliance (CSDA), made up of companies with an active interest in the Celtic Sea.
Marine Energy Wales said it would work to represent the companies’ interests while ensuring the future energy project in the region delivered local, sustainable jobs.
The organisation has also opened a new satellite office in Anglesey to support the growth of the tidal energy industry in North Wales.
Project manager Jay Sheppard said: “Having a physical presence in the region will help us improve our on the ground stakeholder engagement, working alongside our members, such as Minesto and Morlais, who are involved in growing the tidal energy industry in North Wales, and allowing us to better support them in their respective activities.”
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: “I’m pleased we’ve been able to provide this funding package to Marine Energy Wales, which will support the development of emerging marine energy technologies. This is part of our wider efforts to establish Wales as a global leader in sustainable emerging offshore renewable generation.”
