Lough renewable energy plan

Lough renewable energy plan

26 July 2017

THE EU is to research the renewable energy potential of Strangford Lough as part of major £9m project off the Irish and Scottish coasts.

The work will focus on the use of tidal power at the internationally acclaimed waterway and the north Antrim coast, ocean energy sites off western Scotland and the potential for wave and tidal power generation in Donegal.

A virtual centre of competence at Queen’s University will host cross-border studies into bio and marine-based power, with Special EU Programmes body’s chief executive, Gina McIntyre, explaining the region has a low level of industry-relevant research and innovation within the renewable energy sector.

She said the Bryden Centre project will help address this issue by creating a new centre of competence made up of dedicated PhD students creating high quality research with strong commercial potential.

Working with a number of cross-border bodies, including 

Scotland’s University of Highlands and Islands, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Ulster University, the Agri-Food and Biosciences 

Institute, Donegal County Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council, the project will create the largest amount of cross-border research in this area to date.

It will recruit 34 doctoral students and six post-doctoral research associates to produce relevant research with the potential to produce strong commercial benefit.

The EU is contributing more than £8.3m while match-funding for the project has been provided by the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the Republic.

As well as tidal power, the project will also focus on renewables such as bio-energy, specifically heat, biogas and electricity which can be produced through the anaerobic digestion of agri-food waste.

Findings produced are intended to benefit many small and medium-sized businesses struggling to become more innovative within the renewable energy sector, with a massive tidal energy project on the seabed off Northern Ireland’s north coast planned for next year.