Launched in 2009, the South Western Mooring Test Facility buoy is one of the new technologies developed by the PRIMaRE team. Photo by Simon Burt (Apex).

South West businesses and academics join forces to generate power

Business professionals and researchers will gather in Cornwall on 8 January to identify opportunities to get involved with developing wave and tidal energy in the South West.

The Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) Annual Research Conference will enable businesses and academics to collaborate on developing and testing marine renewable energy technology.

Hosted by the University of Exeter, the conference will be held at the Cornwall Campus.

PRIMaRE is a joint £15 million institute for research into harnessing the energy from the sea, bringing together the technology and marine expertise of the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth. Its team of world-class academic staff and researchers is dedicated to the support and development of the marine renewable energy sector. PRIMaRE supports and complements the South West RDA's pioneering £42 million Wave Hub project, which will create the world's largest wave energy test site 10 miles off the Cornish coast.

The conference will give the region’s businesses and academic researchers the latest news from PRIMaRE and will also explore opportunities for working together on the next stages of the project.

Dr Dean Millar of the University of Exeter's Camborne School of Mines (part of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences), said: “This event will be a great opportunity for everyone who has been involved with PRIMaRE so far to assess what we have achieved so far and what challenges lie ahead. We also hope that businesses will find exciting opportunities to collaborate with us over the coming months. We are proud to be hosting this event on our Cornwall Campus, where our renewable energy team is developing and testing the very latest marine energy technologies.”

Dr Sue Brownlow, Combined Universities in Cornwall Director, said: "This conference is a splendid example of how the expansion of university education is creating new opportunities for business in Cornwall. By combining the strengths of the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, both partners in the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative, PRIMaRE has the research muscle to underpin an internationally excellent marine renewables industry in the region."
 
The £100 million Tremough Campus is a Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative of which the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth are two of the founding partners. It is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council. Set in 70 acres of countryside, but close to the waterside towns of Penryn and Falmouth, the campus offers a lively student community. The University of Exeter now offers degrees in Biology, Modern Celtic and Cornish Studies, English, Geology, Geography, History, Law, Mining Engineering, Politics and Renewable Energy on its Tremough Campus, which has expanded rapidly as part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative.

Date: 4 January 2010

Read more University News

Google+