Ocean Energy

Ocean energy, contained in the world’s waves and marine tidal currents, provides an untapped source of renewable energy

Recent research studies and most notably the Department of Communication, Marine and Natural Resources' Ocean Energy in Ireland: An Ocean Strategy 2006 have made it clear that Ireland has huge potential in terms of harvesting significant levels of wave and tidal energy.

• The calculated wave resource for Europe is of the order of 320,000 MW
• The highest resources are available are near the west coast of Ireland.

Ireland has 3rd Level research expertise in the areas of turbine design at University of Limerick, wave tank model testing at the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre of University College Cork and wave energy modelling at Queen’s University.

Ten Irish ocean energy companies were been granted €4.3 million in development funding in 2009 by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI).  Grants range from €20,000 to €2 million and companies benefiting include Wavebob and Ocean Energy, which have been undergoing prototype wave energy trials in Galway Bay, and OpenHydro, which is spearheading development of tidal power.

With the potential of securing 20% of the European export market, Irish wave energy developers could;

• Bring €360million in to the economy by 2020 - creating 574 jobs.
• Rising to €1,587million and 1,329 jobs by 2025.

The Ocean Energy Development Unit (OEDU) has been established to implement the Government's policy decision to accelerate the development of Ocean Energy (Wave and Tidal) in Ireland. The objectives are to establish Ireland as a centre of excellence in ocean energy technology and the stimulation of a world-class industry cluster.