Abstract
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Sustainable Power Generation and Supply (SuperGen) programme is the flagship research initiative shaping the future of the United Kingdom’s energy landscape. The first of a total of 13 consortia were launched in October 2003. The mission of these consortia is to establish a platform for the development of new and improved devices for efficient and sustainable power generation and supply. The research of the Marine Energy Consortium focuses on the potential for future exploitation of the marine energy resource. SuperGen Marine Phase 1 (October 2003 – September 2007) brought together research staff from the Universities of Edinburgh, Robert Gordon, Lancaster, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde. Together they undertook generic research with the following long-term objectives. To:
- Increase knowledge and understanding of the extraction of energy from the sea;
- Reduce risk and uncertainty for stakeholders in the development and deployment of technology;
- Enable progression of marine technology and energy into true positions in future energy portfolios.
In order to meet these objectives, thirteen research work packages (WPs) were undertaken:
- WP1 Appraisal of Energy Resource & Converters: Environmental Interaction
- WP2 Development of Methodologies for Device Evaluation and Optimisation
- WP3 Engineering Guidance
- WP4 Offshore Energy Conversion and Power Conditioning
- WP5 Chemical Conversion and Storage
- WP6 Network Interaction of Marine Energy
- WP7 Lifetime Economics
- WP8 Moorings and Foundations
- WP9 Novel Control Systems for Marine Energy Converters
- WP10 Full-scale Field Validation
- WP11 Assessment of Testing Procedures for Tidal Current Devices
- WP12 Economic, Environmental and Social Impact of New Marine Technologies
- WP13 Dissemination and Outreach
The Marine consortium secured continuation funding for Phase 2, supporting a further four years research from October 2007, and this now brings together staff from the Universities of Edinburgh, Queens Belfast, Lancaster, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde. There are ten work streams (WSs), all of which are scheduled to be completed by October 2011.
- WS1 Numerical and physical convergence
- WS2 Optimisation of collector form and response
- WS3 Combined wave and tidal effects
- WS4 Arrays, wakes and near field effects
- WS5 Power take-off and conditioning
- WS6 Moorings and positioning
- WS7 Advanced control of devices and network integration
- WS8 Reliability
- WS9 Economic analysis of variability and penetration
- WS10 Dissemination of results
Two additional programmes have been funded in parallel with the core work streams in Phase 2. The first is a Doctoral Training Programme providing for eighteen PhD studentships across the six named universities and at an additional six affiliate universities active in marine renewable research. The second additional programme is the study of the ecological consequences of tidal and wave energy conversion.
The document consists of five sections and contains three appendices. Section 2 contains detailed discussion of Phase 1, spanning the research effort undertaken in the first four years of the programme. The aims of the future research in Phase 2 are presented in section 3. The two additional programmes associated with Phase 2 are summarised in sections 4 and 5. Details of the individuals involved in the programme, abstracts of the research outputs from Phase 1 grouped by work package, and then alphabetically, are contained in the appendices.
Other SuperGen Monographs: