Building an Industry: Harvesting Cornwall’s Waves
Category - Cornwall, Invest in Cornwall, Marine Renewables, Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Investment, South West Marine Energy Park
Thursday 17th May 2012

Guest blog from David Krohn, Development Manager at RenewableUK.

The South West has once again been voted England’s greenest region, not least of all for the efforts Cornwall has made to advance the delivery of renewable energy, especially marine renewable energy. Cornwall’s significant and reliable wave resource makes it the ideal venue for hosting the world’s first testing facility exclusively focused on harnessing wave energy, Wave Hub.

The 8km² Wave Hub or “socket in the sea” provides shared infrastructure for the proving of wave energy devices and consists of an electrical hub on the seabed, 16km off the coast of Cornwall. This hub is in turn linked to the UK’s grid network by a 25km long, 1300 tonne subsea cable operating at 11kV. Linking marine energy devices to the national grid is extremely costly and Wave Hub is attracting great interest due to the fact that devices have a ready made entry point to the grid.

Furthermore, the facility has the environmental monitoring capability, nearby port infrastructure and developed regional supply chain needed to produce marine energy as cost effectively as possible. Wave Hub alleviates one of the major barriers to development as it holds the necessary consents and permits to install 20MW of wave energy devices, without the need for the developers to go through the rigorous consenting process usually required if developers take forward an independent project.

The shared infrastructure and consented sites gives developers a cost effective means to take the final steps towards commercialization, and prove that wave energy is a viable industry.

Wave Hub provides a rich learning environment for education, training and research into renewable energy technologies in the South West. Besides its rich wave resource,Cornwall has developed intellectual assets that make it an ideal place to carry out sea trials. Wave Hub is complemented by The Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE), a centre of excellence based at Plymouth University, which is developing knowledge around resource characterisation and aiding technology transfer for critical elements of marine energy.

Wave Hub has now attracted its first customer, Ocean Power Technologies, which intends to install a 5MW array of its Powerbuoy devices and several other high profile developers are developing proposals to have scale devices installed. With the resources available in Cornwall and the advantages Wave Hub offers, it is only a matter of time before the berths fill up and Cornwall takes its rightful place as a leading region for Wave energy.

The potential for Cornwall’s various resources to catalyse an entirely new industry in the South West of England is vast, as we build on the established skills in the south west, and capitalise on the forward looking attitude of local politicians and an ever greener public.

David Krohn Biography

David Krohn is the Wave and Tidal development manager at RenewableUK. His role comprises of analyzing and influencing policy to create the optimal conditions for marine energy installation. His industry building activities include dissemination of information and best practice flowing from the activities of the sector as well as connecting the various parts of the industry so that they work in a coordinated and coherent way.

Prior to moving to RenewableUK, David studied Environmental law at the University of Cape Town and has worked across a range of energy and sustainability initiatives, primarily through the construction lens. Most recently, he managed a Nuclear Decommissioning Stakeholder Dialogue bringing together government, generators and a range of NGOs to develop best practice guidance for the industry.

Clustering of ambition: the South West Marine Energy Park
Category - Cornwall, Invest in Cornwall, Marine Renewables, Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Investment, South West Marine Energy Park
Wednesday 7th Mar 2012

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Guest blog from David Krohn, Development Manager at RenewableUK.

Unlocking the potential of the marine energy sector is no mean feat, and the UK has constantly sought new ways of capturing and utilising the capability of its wave and tidal industry value chain. Once again we are taking the global lead, not just in actual installed capacity, but with progressive policy measures that the country is putting in place to stimulate growth in the sector. With the Renewables Obligation review set to confirm the UK as the best place in the world to install marine energy devices, and the Strategic Environmental Assessment eliminating the last environmental barriers to widespread growth, the supportive Department of Energy and Climate Change has begun to identify concentrations of expertise that can contribute towards a commercially viable marine energy industry.

The first Marine Energy Park was launched on January 23 and has identified the South West of England as a key area for investment and innovation. With leading developers, original equipment manufacturers and installation experts all based in the region, the South West was a logical choice to launch the MEP initiative. Add to that the fantastic facilities available to the area and we are seeing a clustering of capacities and skills unsurpassed in the world.

WaveHub and FabTest, with their pre-consented and grid connected berths, and academic initiatives such as PRIMaRE, are fast removing barriers to progress and providing opportunities to de-risk the various technologies being installed across the South West. With established port and grid infrastructure, the South West is set to play a crucial role in the development of arrays and generate true value in the area, both to communities and investors.

The collaborative approach that the MEP encourages is ideally suited to accelerating the development of the marine industry as it facilitates knowledge sharing and forges links between the different parts of the industry. The support and leadership that the MEP provides is helping to beat a pathway to commercial viability by providing a focal point for the marine energy industry and integrating the excellent resources in the South West. Only through coordinated activities can the industry advance and improve their commercial offering. The MEP provides the perfect vehicle for drawing together the human and institutional resources in the South West to take advantage of the outstanding natural resources the region has to offer.

David Krohn Biography

Who Dares Wins: Position your company for success

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Guy Macpherson-Grant, Director of EGS Energy, talks about his experience of raising finance for deep geothermal projects.

All businesses need to take risks to succeed, but at EGS Energy we make sure that they are quantified, deliberate decisions.

Having won top position in the DECC Deep Geothermal Challenge Fund with our bid to develop a power plant at the Eden Project in Cornwall – one of the UK’s two geothermal plants, we are determined to prove that our Cornish based company can deliver world leading renewable energy development.

To back their vision the other directors of EGS Energy and I have so far raised more than £3 million for the power plant’s development. My advice for others raising funding is this:

Know your audience, and look strategically for new investors. My starting point is to make sure the fundamentals of any proposal match the interests of the private equity fund being approached.

You need to be ready to react to interest from unexpected sources but for us the focus from the start has been industry investors. It’s about working with companies that understand quickly what’s involved. It’s about building the future we want with our investors – in terms of scale, profitability, reputation and geographic footprint. Having said that, we haven’t yet completed the financial consortium for the Cornwall based power plant and so this is work in progress.

Pay good attention to your financial model. With the renewable energy sector increasingly under the spotlight the need to avoid complacency and make sure you’re putting your best financial foot forward is vital. With so much of the return on renewable energy based on public subsidy, all projects will be under intense scrutiny from investors and DECC alike.

Investors are also keen to see what master investor Warren Buffett calls having ‘skin in the game’ – the fact is that investors prefer businesses where the directors have a personal stake in the enterprise.

So what’s next? Yes, the overall economic climate is a distraction from the renewable sector but getting in place unambiguous legislative and financial support will bring jobs and wealth creation, energy security and help the country meet its 2020 targets.

Supporting this renewable energy mantra with every step, Cornwall is busy playing to its natural resources of solar, geothermal, wind and marine power. For instance the county is making moves to ensure it’s well placed to capitalise on national strategies like the government’s commitment to the future development of Marine Energy Parks.

In solar, with changes to the Feed in Tariff in early 2011 bringing a set back to large scale projects, that still doesn’t change Cornwall’s ideal geographic position for generating solar power. Of course this kind of change to policy temporarily effects investor confidence but as the market continues to mature and as economies of scale are reached other solar opportunities are presenting themselves to enterprising entrepreneurs.

Daring to be different had always been a hallmark of Cornwall’s rich engineering heritage – as well as the catalyst for truly excellent innovation. Cornwall may be a small region of the country but it’s beginning to make a big impact across the renewable energy sector.

I will be talking further about EGS Energy’s experience in raising funding for their Cornwall-based power plant at the Envirotech & Clean Energy Investor Summit in London (9 November). I will cover the challenges and pitfalls in getting this power plant project off the ground, as well as the broader opportunities in Cornwall for new projects, new entrants to the market, and growth in the region – more information here

- What are your thoughts on attracting investment to renewable energy projects? Add your thoughts in this forum discussion.

- See our video which explains the future for the geothermal plant at the Eden Project in Cornwall.