Testing of 'wave energy' technology commences off west coast

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has today announced the commencement of testing of a large scale ocean energy demonstrator, Ocean Energy Buoy (OE Buoy) off the coast of Galway.

The OE Buoy has been developed by Ocean Energy Ltd and is funded by SEI as part of Phase 1 of the Government’s Ocean Energy strategy. The purpose of the testing is to determine cost, reliability and efficiency before deploying a pilot of the full scale device in 2008.

David Taylor, Chief Executive, SEI, commented: "This research is of enormous importance as Ireland is uniquely placed to exploit the potential of ocean energy. "

"The ocean energy sector is at an early stage of development and while it is not yet possible to provide an exact forecast for the size of this market in Europe, estimates have suggested that the market size for ocean energy could be as large as that expected for offshore wind energy.

"As the sector progresses from its current R&D stages, an opportunity exists for Ireland to capitalise on this market which may be worth up to €2bn to Ireland by 2025."