Wave Hub bolsters team for Welsh expansion

 
Wave Hub is expanding its operations in Wales to support the development of the Pembrokeshire wave energy site which will be led by the newly appointed Madeline Cowley.

Wave Hub, the leaseholder for the Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone, has named Madeline Cowley as its Project Manager to lead its activities in Wales, including the feasibility study awarded last week to Black & Veatch.

Cowley will be based at Wave Hub’s new office in Pier House at Pembroke Dock, in Pembrokeshire.

Madeline Cowley said: “It’s an exciting time for Marine Energy in Wales. The feasibility study is the first step towards developing a world leading, large scale marine test facility in Pembrokeshire. This project will be a key element of the development of a marine industry hub in the local area.”

David Jones, Project Director of Marine Energy Wales, said: “We are looking forward to continuing our collaborative approach to marine energy in Wales by welcoming Wave Hub as they open their Welsh office. Wave Hub’s extensive experience in developing and operating test sites will be of huge benefit in progressing the Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone and is another step forward for the sector in Wales.”

The feasibility study starts this month and the findings will be known early in 2018, according to Wave Hub.

The Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone forms part of the Pembroke Dock Marine project to develop a world class center for marine energy development, fabrication, testing and deployment in Pembrokeshire.

The zone comprises a 90 sq km area of seabed, located 13-21 kms offshore, with water depths of approximately 50 meters and a wave resource of 19 kW/m. It has the potential to support the demonstration of wave arrays with a generating capacity of up to 30MW for each project.

This is one of 11 projects included in the Swansea Bay City Deal that was signed by the Prime Minister and Welsh First Minister in March this year.