Accreditation & certification

UKAS Accreditation

EMEC has been examined and accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). EMEC has been an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited test laboratory since 2005 and ISO/IEC 17020 accredited inspection body since 2014.

We are the first and only centre of our kind anywhere in the world to win this mark of quality, which enables us to provide independent, internationally recognised performance assessment and inspection of the technologies that test at our grid-connected test sites.

To achieve accreditation, we have developed an Integrated Management System (IMS) as a clear commitment to quality, health, and safety management. This has been created to meet the in requirements in:

• ISO/IEC 17025 – general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
• ISO/IEC 17020 – conformity assessment, requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection
• BS EN ISO 9001 – quality management systems
• ISO/IEC 45001 – occupational health and safety
• ISO/IEC 14001 – environmental management

EMEC’s schedule of accreditation including the methods used in ISO/IEC Accredited Performance Assessment can be found here: Schedule of Accreditation

EMEC’s schedule of accreditation including for ISO/IEC Accredited Inspection can be found here: Schedule of Accreditation

For further details on UKAS, visit: UKAS website

RETL status

EMEC is the world’s first and only ocean energy facility designated with Renewable Energy Testing Laboratory (RETL) status, the highest international designation for marine energy test laboratories.

RETL designation is awarded by the International Electrotechnical Commission – Renewable Energy System (IECRE) which operates a global certification system addressing three renewable energy sectors: solar photovoltaic (PV), wind energy, and marine energy.

A prerequisite to being recognised as a RETL in the marine energy sector is to be accredited as a test laboratory (e.g. by UKAS to ISO/IEC 17025).

RETL designation enables EMEC to perform tests to assess the power performance of tidal energy converters anywhere in the world in compliance with IEC TC 114 Technical Specifications (precursors to international standards). For now, the RETL designation only covers the power performance assessment of tidal energy converters (IEC/TS 62600-200), however, the IECRE System is in the process of expanding such a designation to cover wave energy converters and additional competence areas as well.

Accredited services

Click here for more information on EMEC Accredited Services.