Welsh marine energy body Marine Energy Wales (MEW) has released a video which highlights the marine renewable energy supply chain in Pembrokeshire, a county in the south west of Wales.
MEW said it is currently working on a project which aims to assess the current capabilities of companies as well as their potential to diversify into the marine renewables sector which will culminate in a series of recommendations to drive forward this diversification process.
Earlier this month, MEW received funding from the Coastal Communities Fund for its Marine Energy Test Area (META) project which is expected to provide increased opportunities for the upskilling and diversification of local supply chain, and contribute to de-risking of project developments.
Natalie Britton , Director of Quayside Operations at the Port of Milford Haven, said: “We believe that marine energy is a great opportunity for our business, but also the other businesses around this Haven. Pembroke Dock Marine will be a development, test, and operational base for marine energy devices.
“A company that has a concept or an idea for marine energy device can come and base itself here, and have access to expertise, skills and infrastructure, and take that idea to develop it through to commercialization.”
Gareth Stockman , Managing Director of Welsh-based wave energy company Marine Power Systems, said: “Marine Power Systems had an aspiration to use at least 50% of the Welsh supply chain – whether for large-scale fabrication or smaller machine sub-components.
“Our intent in the future would be to have a specialist manufacturing line to build our first small array of WaveSub devices and deploy it off our own shoreline.”
The first stakeholder engagement event for the META project will be held on September 14, 2017, MEW informed.