Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre is to lead a three-year project to address environmental concerns around the development of emerging wave power technologies.
The Strategic Environmental Assessment of Wave energy technologies (SEA Wave) scheme aims to achieve a deeper understanding about how the marine environment reacts to the presence of wave energy converters.
The project funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund will bring together wave technology developers like Wello, academic institutions such as Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, data managers and other stakeholders from the UK, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Sweden and Ireland.
EMEC said the project would undertake multi-device ecological sampling campaigns to provide the evidence for regulators to adopt a risk-based consenting process and support developers secure future consents for array projects.
“As the wave energy industry advances through the research and development phase, SEA Wave will enable all-important monitoring of the potential effects wave energy converters may have on the host environment,” added EMEC environment and consents specialist Caitlin Long.
“Crucially, the findings from this project will enhance regulators and stakeholders’ knowledge of the environmental effects from installation to decommissioning and provide the required confidence to adopt a risk-based consenting regime.”