Tidal blade test facility at National Composites Centre was awarded £1 million as part of £86 million of new Government money awarded to the West of England LEP to boost economic growth and create jobs.
Located in Bristol & Bath Science Park, it will be the first of its kind as the industry is insufficient for each manufacturer to have its own facility.
Johnny Gowdy, director at Regen SW , who helped put the funding proposal together said: “We are fortunate to have an established cluster of tidal technology developers including Siemens MCT, Alstom and Atlantis Resources based in the region. We also have some of the leading technical consultancy firms, including DNV GL and IT Power, based here in Bristol plus a wider group of around 80 companies who are part of the Bristol Tidal Energy Forum and the wider South West Marine Energy Park.”
The facility will provide shared facilities to enable collaboration, development testing and accreditation for new tidal blade models, allowing further commercialisation of the research and development in the field.
Offshore WIND staff, July 08, 2014; Image: robbinengineering