Research and Monitoring
For most developers coming to deploy at EMEC, installation at these facilities will be the first time their device has been in the open sea and grid connected.
EMEC's primary role is to provide operational testing facilities for both wave and tidal devices.
Consents must be gained in order to deploy devices at the sites, and this process requires developers to:
- Consider environmental and safety issues prior to testing
- Mitigate against potential negative impacts
A secondary, but increasingly important, role of EMEC is to establish and facilitate baseline monitoring, which can be extended by developers to monitor their devices, with particular regard to impacts on the receiving environment.
EMEC occupies a unique position, having links with a range of different developers, academic institutions and regulatory bodies whilst remaining independent.
EMEC aims to:
- ensure that methods are available to ensure that baseline data is collected using robust and repeatable methods
- devices are thereby able to be monitored in a consistent way, using the best available methods
- play a key role in the future commercial success of the devices that have been on test at EMEC and the marine energy sector as a whole.
EMEC is currently involved in a range of research projects:
EMEC also regularly and routinely participates in a wide range of workshops and conferences, a few of which are listed below:
- Marine Energy Spatial Planning Group (MESPG): EMEC currently sit on the MESPG which looks at a set of initiatives aimed at producing a spatial planning framework for marine renewable energy development in Scottish waters.
- National Environmental Research Council (NERC) workshops covering Offshore and Coastal Renewable Energy have been attended by EMEC, which approaches issues from an academic angle.
- Tidal Safety Workshop: Organised by EMEC, this was aimed at addressing site specific marine safety issues at EMEC, such as under keel clearance for devices and buoyage in high tidal streams. Attendees came from a range of marine user organisations.
- Technology Strategy Board (TSB): EMEC sits on the steering group for the Knowledge Transfer Partnership, which has marine renewables as one of its working streams.
EMEC is currently working with developers and experts in order to expand its research agenda to cover a range of industry-related environmental and operational issues. We join regulators, government and developers alike in being keen to make full use of the device testing stages of the developing wave and tidal energy industries as they evolve from pre-prototype design through to commercial viability.
EMEC is keen to engage with researchers and provide input to individual research projects as appropriate to the test facility. To contact EMEC regarding this, please complete and return an Academic Request form, using the links below.
For more information please download our EMEC 'Research Opportunities' Leaflet