This €200 million of funding will be invested in seven world-class research centres of scale, one of which will focus on world-leading research to take advantage of Ireland’s natural advantages in marine energies, and will be delivered through Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) Research Centres Programme, coupled with over €100 million in cash and in-kind contributions from industry partners – making it the largest-ever combined state/industry co-funding announcement of its kind in the research field in Ireland.
The seven research centres mark a new collaborative approach and bring together multidisciplinary teams comprising 800 scientists from across Ireland’s leading higher education and research institutions and interacting with 156 industry partners.
The Centre for Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI), led by University College Cork, will develop the science and technology required by industry to generate energy from wave, tidal and floating wind devices. MaREI will carry out research on all aspects required for the success of the marine renewable energy sector while, also, educating and training the next generation of engineers and scientists for the marine renewable energy industry. In particular, MaREI will look at a wide range of challenges concerned with the optimised deployment of marine renewable energy devices, the connection of such devices to the national grid, methods for storing the energy generated, and related marine governance, planning, economics and environmental issues. MaREI will help satisfy national energy demands, as well as for export, and ensure that the expected thousands of jobs created in this sector benefit the national economy.