Partnership for Research In Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE)

Completed

Renewable Energy Sources(Ocean Energy)
Renewable Energy Sources(Wind Energy)

Basic and strategic applied research
Applied Research and Development

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Business and Management Studies)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences)

Other (Energy technology information dissemination)

Prof D Greaves
School of Marine Science and Engineering
University of Plymouth

Standard

EPSRC

01 July 2017

30 September 2021

51 months

£240,608

Energy

South West

Energy : Energy

Prof D Greaves, School of Marine Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth

Project Contact, Cardiff University
Project Contact, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult
Project Contact, Wavepower Technologies Limited
Project Contact, Marine Power Systems Ltd
Project Contact, Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme (ORJIP)
Project Contact, Cranfield University
Project Contact, University of Southampton
Project Contact, Marine Biological Association
Project Contact, A&P Falmouth Limited
Project Contact, University of Exeter
Project Contact, Regen SW
Project Contact, Wave Hub
Project Contact, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Project Contact, Anglo-European College of Chiropractic
Project Contact, Animal Health Trust
Project Contact, National Museums Liverpool
Project Contact, National Museum Wales
Project Contact, Sandwell College
Project Contact, Selby College
Project Contact, Reaseheath College
Project Contact, University of Bath
Project Contact, University of Bristol

The UK is currently at the forefront of the Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) sector, with almost 200 MW of installed capacity of wave and tidal stream projects, that are either operational, under construction or in development. Furthermore, the first floating offshore wind farm is being built off the coast of Scotland.In order to realise the potential of MRE to achieve the targets set by the Government and keep the UK's leading position; the sector needs to address some relevant technical, environmental and interdisciplinary challenges. A coordinated response from different actors at national and regional level is required in order to successfully face these challenges. In an attempt to provide this coordination and with an initial focus on the South west of the UK, the Partnership for Research In Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) was established, bringing together research expertise and access to facilities for MRE developments.PRIMaRE comprises the Universities of Plymouth, Exeter, Southampton, Bristol and Bath, along with the Marine Biological Association and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Completing the line-up of PRIMaRE is the South West Marine Energy Park and the Wave Hub facilities, acting as conduits between the research community and industry. More recently, PRIMaRE has extended its borders both nationally and internationally by including the Universities of Uppsala, Cardiff and Cranfield as associated partners of PRIMaRE. The core partner institutions have signed up to a partnership agreement to work together on research across the spectrum of MRE and to establish a 'network of excellence' centred in the South of the UK. PRIMaRE has established the annual conference (now in its third year) to showcase the research and provide a forum for discussion with MRE industry and academia, and have organised industry oriented workshops to identify research priorities in order to align research efforts with the requirements of the MRE sector.With the support of the EPSRC Network Grant, PRIMaRE aims to expand the partnership to a new level, making active and effective contributions to the challenges of the MRE sector. The Network brings together academic effort on MRE challenges, but also given the nascent state of the industry, aims to work closely with supply chain and industry partners, by providing training and a forum for sharing and exchange of ideas and through access to academic expertise and facilities. Unlike the academic focus of doctoral training schemes, the proposed network aspires to a broad sector approach, in which training and research collaborations are promoted both for conventional research and academic staff (i.e., post-docs, researchers, academics, PhD students) and for industry staff (developers, supply chain, test centres, regional government agencies). The proposed network has four main pillars of focus: (i) the annual PRIMaRE conference, expanded to become a key National and International event for the sector; (ii) the Key Challenge Workshops, an industry oriented dynamic and proactive forum to ensure alignment of PRIMaRE research priorities, and to focus on key emerging challenges requiring special attention; (iii) travel grants, which are crucial to ensure knowledge transfer and to promote the required mobility between academia and industry needed to develop new research collaborations nationally and internationally; and (iv) the PRIMaRE summer school, a continuing professional development (CPD) high level programme, providing the mechanism for exchange of knowledge between the research, academia, the novel MRE industry and wider sector.

01/02/19