South West of England to be Home to First UK Marine Energy Park
Posted on: January 26th, 2012 by Justin Becks
According to reports, the South West of England could now have the opportunity to lead the whole world in terms of offshore wind, wave and tidal power. This news was brought to light by the UK government after it announced it wanted to turn this region into the UK’s first ever marine energy park.
This park is going to be spread across sites like Bristol, Cornwall, and Devon. It should cost more than £100 million. However, in the end, it could fuel a ten-fold growth in jobs of the renewable marine energy industry. This growth would take place over the next five years.
Greg Barker, who is the Energy Minister to the UK, said that he expects this region to export devices to China and South America. Not only that, but it should be able to supply power to thousands of British homes across the UK. It could end up being an answer to the energy problems taking the UK by storm.
Mr. Barker went on to tell the media that the South West is not getting the proper recognition that it needs. This area could be a leader for the sector. Not just a leader for the UK, but an actual global leader. This is the kind of opportunity that the UK cannot let slip by.
This marine energy park would fittingly be called the South West Marine Energy Park. Overall, it would be a collaboration between entrepreneurs, universities, and councils. It would represent all of these different areas coming together for a greater propose.
As of right now, wave and tidal power are very minimal in the UK. However, other places around the world have seen how much energy it can actually generate. The UK government hopes that this area of renewable energy could see fast growth.
According to Mr. Barker, a “cluster” of businesses with the same goal in mind is the best way to help this sector thrive. The South West sector could be an investment destination for many. The hope is that a lot of overseas money in the sector will be poured into this region. Hopefully, this industry could be worth more than £70 billion to the UK economy by 2050.
The technology that is made for this sector could be sold to other countries as well. Mr. Baker believes that countries like North and South America, Japan, China, Korea, and even Australasia will be interested in this tidal power technology.
