Following Minister Greg Barker’s announcement regarding the UK’s first Marine Energy Park, marine industry jobs in Falmouth are expected to grow rapidly over the next five years, reports Falmouth Packet.
Minister Barker made the announcement on a visit to Bristol where he met with key members of the new initiative.
Covering an area stretching from Bristol to Cornwall as far as the Isles of Scilly, the MEP will be a partnership between local and national Government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter, and the wave & tidal industry – including the Wave Hub testing facility off the coast of Cornwall.
The aim of the partnership will be to speed up the progress of marine power development.
Energy from the waves or tides has the potential to generate up to 27GW of power in the UK alone by 2050, equivalent to the power generated from 8 coal-fired power stations, as well as helping to reduce emissions to fight climate changes.
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Offshore WIND staff, January 31, 2012