Climate Change Minister Officially Opens FloWave

New climate change minister Amber Rudd MP found out first-hand about the UK’s leading role in ocean energy research and development when she officially opened FloWave today (August 5).

Speaking at the opening, Minister Rudd said:

“Wave and tidal energy has an important part to play in our low carbon energy mix and the UK is already at the forefront of research and development in this innovative sector. It’s great to officially open and see first-hand FloWave’s new cutting-edge marine energy testing facility at the University of Edinburgh. Testing devices in realistic ocean conditions is essential for driving this industry forward to commercial success.”

Welcoming the Minister, FloWave Chief Executive Officer Stuart Brown said:

“FloWave is unique in that it can recreate real sea conditions combining waves and tides for almost any location or sea state in the world. Its circular design means waves have no reflections and both waves and currents can come from multiple directions, to accurately mimic the real ocean environment. This means researchers and industrial partners can use the facility to develop and refine prototype devices before building and testing them full-scale for deployment in near-identical conditions at sea.

“We believe FloWave will help accelerate learning, improve performance and reduce costs for developers, and we expect FloWave will be used to test wave and tidal energy converters, floating offshore wind platforms, and specialist vessels to install and maintain offshore projects,” Brown says.

“With proper programming the FloWave tank can be made to accurately replicate at scale any point on the UK continental shelf, and almost all of the existing and planned wave and tidal generation sites around the world. If EMEC is the lab in the ocean, then FloWave is the ocean in the lab,” Brown concluded.

Minister Amber Rudd officially opens FloWave
Minister Amber Rudd officially opens FloWave
Minister at FloWave's Ocean Energy Research Facility
Minister at FloWave's Ocean Energy Research Facility