The UK's first marine energy park will be based in southwest England, energy minister Greg Barker has announced
The new initiative, commissioned by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council, will bring together local enterprise partnerships, universities and businesses in the renewables sector in a bid to speed up development of scalable wave and tidal power technologies.
The South West Marine Energy Park will encompass the whole region, stretching from the Bristol Channel to the Scilly Isles.
Barker hailed the scheme as an important milestone for the technology.
“Marine power has huge potential in the UK not just in contributing to a greener electricity supply and cutting emissions, but in supporting thousands of jobs in a sector worth a possible £15 billion to the economy to 2050,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Scottish government has approved plans to support new renewable-energy developments to connect to the national grid.
