Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 May 2004
63 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the research projects currently being undertaken in the area of wave and tidal power generation; the overall budget for these projects; and the forecast budget for this area of research for future years. [13689/04]
View answerSustainable Energy Ireland, SEI, and the Marine Institute are engaged in a joint programme of development for ocean energy, which involves collaborative research, consultation and funding of industry and academic research.
As a first step in this process, SEI and the Marine Institute launched a public consultation document on options for wave energy research and development from November 2002 to February 2003. Twenty-four responses were received and a summary of these responses is available on the Marine Institute's website. Arising from the consultation process, SEI and the Marine Institute commissioned the following two studies to identify the optimum policy options for developing wave energy: the potential for energy extraction from marine and tidal currents; and the economics of wave energy.
Further collaborative research is also planned by the two agencies and the results of the consultation and research works will be fed into the newly established renewables development group.
The Marine Institute is also involved in a number of other research projects, which include a project to prepare a protocol for device development as well as developing the terms of reference for an updated wave resource atlas. There is a further planned initiative to expand the technical and research and development capabilities in ocean energy.
Ireland has also joined the International Energy Agency implementing agreement on ocean energy research and development. This will ensure that we enjoy the full benefit of international collaboration on ocean energy research.
To date, a total of 41 non-wind renewable energy projects have been supported by SEI at a cost of €4.5 million. The projects are being carried out by industry and universities and cover biomass, hydro, ocean energy, heat pumps and geothermal technologies. Four ocean energy projects have been funded to date under the programme.
The total amount of funding available under SEI's renewables R& D programme in 2004 is €1.8 million, and further funding of ocean energy research is anticipated. To date, over €500,000 has been expended between SEI and the Marine Institute on ocean energy research.
