Introduction
The Marine Renewables Proving Fund is a £22.5m grant scheme which has proven that full-scale marine energy devices can be installed and operated in open-sea environments. The fund is managed by the Carbon Trust on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and provides funding and technical support to six full-scale prototypes.
Final participants in the MRPF were selected via a technical and financial evaluation of applications from 31 different developers following an open call competition. Leading technology developers with robust plans for building, installing and operating a full-scale prototype were chosen, receiving an average grant of over £3 million. The Carbon Trust recruited a Technical Services Team, which provided technical due diligence for the funder but also supported the project teams and has facilitated the sharing of learnings between participants.
All six full-scale prototypes will have been installed and generating by the end of the 2012 Summer weather window, a significant success in an industry where technical delays are common and expected. The success reflects a significantly hands on approach to the disbursements of funds by the Carbon Trust, and strong technical understanding of the technical and milestone changes that are part and parcel of technology demonstration. The six fully installed devices are central to the increasing confidence of the marine energy industry, which now plans to scale up demonstration to arrays of several MW and is seeing increased private sector investment from strategically placed industrial companies.
Further details of all Marine Renewables Proving Fund Developers and projects.