A new Marine Renewables Test Centre that aims to support the
development, design and testing of marine renewable construction
materials and prototype foundations has been created at the University
of Dundee.
The £2million (US$3.2 million) project is being supported with
£833,000 ($1.5 million) of funding newly announced by the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Professor Rod Jones, Head of the new Centre, commented on the
challenges faced by offshore marine and wind renewable technology
saying: “Although considerable progress has been made in developing and
manufacturing turbines, the main challenges now lie in the design,
commissioning and deployment of key structural components such as
concrete foundations for offshore wind farms. “We have world-leading expertise at Dundee in the development of
concrete technology and the modelling of novel foundation solutions.
This new Centre will build on that and be integral to the provision of,
demonstration and certification of marine materials and structures,
which are particularly needed by industry if we are to successfully
deploy the systems required to exploit Scotland’s natural resources in
wind and marine energy.”
Fergus Ewing, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, added:
“The test centre in Dundee will complement the internationally
recognised facilities provided by Flowave TT located at the University
of Edinburgh and, of course, the world leading testing facilities
offered at EMEC.” Professor Stephen Decent, Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Art, Science and Engineering at the University of Dundee
also noted: “The Marine Renewables Test Centre and the Offshore
Renewables Institute complete the jigsaw by providing world-class
expertise in engineering, policy and planning.”
The Offshore Renewables Institute
was launched earlier this year and is a partnership that brings
together experts from different disciplines at the University of Dundee,
the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University with the aim of
developing and delivering solutions for the offshore wind industry in
the North Sea and globally. ERDF has also provided more than £160,000 ($220,000) to support the Offshore Renewables Institute.
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