Marine energy company Minesto has been awarded a 13 million Euros investment from the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. The funding is part of the commercial roll out, including the establishment of Minesto UK Headquarters in North Wales and commissioning of the first commercial Deep Green power plant.
The EU funds will support a marine energy project in Holyhead Wales aiming to support an expansion of marine energy in Wales and UK. The Welsh Government manages the delivery of the EU Structural Funds programmes in Wales.
“Establishing Minesto UK Headquarters in North Wales is a strategic decision that will help make Wales a global leader in the marine energy sector. In the short term, around 30 direct jobs will be created, followed by hundreds more in the long term in areas like manufacturing, offshore operations and new project development,” said Anders Jansson, CEO of Minesto . “Today’s announcement represents an important step into the full commercialisation of marine energy in Wales.”
Minesto will install the first commercial scale 0.5MW power plant in Holyhead Deep and continue with additional deployments in what will eventually be an array with a total capacity of 10MW, expected to be operational in 2019.
The 10MW array will supply electricity to the equivalent of 8,000 households and create significant employment opportunities in both the construction and operational phases.
Minesto’s tidal power plant, called Deep Green, looks like an underwater kite and is based on a new approach for electricity generation from tidal and ocean currents. Deep Green has been producing electricity in the waters off Northern Ireland for almost two years now.
Image: Minesto