MaREI Centre to position Ireland at the forefront of Marine Renewable
Energy Industry
· Directly supporting 77 highly skilled jobs;
· Involves 45 industry market leaders in energy, marine technology,
software and hardware providers investing over €10 million;
· MaREI to act as catalyst to Ireland establishing a safe, sustainable
and profitable marine energy supply for domestic and international
markets;
Cork, 15 November 2013: Minister for Research and Innovation Seán
Sherlock, T.D. officially launched the Marine Renewable Energy Ireland
(MaREI) SFI Research Centre today at University College Cork (UCC).
The Centre will receive funding of €19million from the Department of Jobs,
Enterprise and Innovation through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) with a
further €10.5 million from 45 industry partners. This investment has the
potential to position Ireland at the forefront of the marine renewable
energy research sector globally.
Speaking at the launch of MaREI, Minister for Research and Innovation Sean
Sherlock, T.D. recognised the commitment shown by Government, industry and
academic partners, stating:
“By making Ireland an international focal point for the marine renewable
industry, MaREI will help create solutions for the marine energy industry
to meet national and international sustainable energy demands, and ensure
that jobs created in this sector benefit the national economy. MaREI will
prepare ocean technologies for market by removing technical and commercial
barriers, and will directly create companies and jobs, thereby serving as a
catalyst for Ireland to establish a safe, sustainable and profitable energy
supply for domestic use and for export.”
MaREI will conduct world-leading research on all aspects of the marine
renewable energy from marine robotics and materials to endure ocean
conditions, to offshore wind, wave and marine energy devices as well as
technologies to deliver power to the grid for electricity supply at home
and abroad.
As an industry-academia research consortium, there are over 45 industry
partners, including Bord Gas Energy, ESB Energy International, Intel,
Siemens, DePuy, many other global market leaders and indigenous SMEs in the
area of energy, marine technology, software and hardware. Academic
partners include lead partner UCC along with University College Dublin,
Cork IT, University of Limerick, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth, Marine Institute
and Teagasc.
MaREI will directly support 77 jobs and has the potential to support the
creation of significant employment in the long-term through spin-out
companies and intellectual property in the field of marine renewable
technology and marine energy materials, devices and solutions for industry.
Professor Tony Lewis, MaREI Interim Director and Director of Beaufort
Research UCC, added: “Ireland is one of the best locations in terms of
marine renewable energy resources. This Centre will develop the science and
technology solutions required by industry to develop commercial wave, tidal
and floating wind energy devices through cutting edge research.”
Speaking at the announcement, Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of
SFI and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government said: “This investment
in marine renewable energy aims to position Ireland at the fore-front of
this field and the potential for significant long-term economic impact
cannot be underestimated. MaREI is one of seven world-class SFI Research
Centres of scale and excellence that involve significant co-investment by
industry partners. This investment reflects the excellence of the research
and strategic relevance of the sectors to industry and Ireland.”
“This new Centre is another great example of UCC working with our partner
academic institutions and industry to achieve Ireland’s strategic goals and
this is a very significant step in Ireland being recognised as a world
leader in the Marine Renewable Industry,” said UCC President Michael
Murphy.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine Simon Coveney T.D. conveyed his
support for the SFI-funded MaREI Centre by video link from Norway to the
launch event.
The new centre will look at a wide range of challenges concerned with the
optimized deployment of marine renewable energy devices, the connection of
such devices to the national grid, methods for storing the energy
generated, and related marine governance, planning, economics and
environmental issues. As well as supporting industry through integrated
and collaborative research, MaREI will also educate and train the next
generation of engineers and scientists for the marine renewable energy
industry.