Menter Môn, the manager of the Morlais tidal energy project, has been awarded £4.5 million of EU and Welsh government funds to further develop the scheme proposed off Anglesey in North Wales.
The funding was announced by the Welsh Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, who said it included £4.2 million of EU funds and a further £300,000 from the Welsh government to support preparatory and consent work for the zone.
The Morlais scheme is being set up to help accelerate the development and commercialization of multiple tidal stream technologies in the Morlais Demonstration Zone, and will be situated in one of the designated Anglesey Enterprise Zone sites.
Skates said: “Once up and running, the fully consented area of seabed will be able to support at least 20MW of grid connection capacity, but with potential for 193.5MW, to enable developers to deploy and test multiple tidal energy technologies.
“Over the next 5 to 10 years we have a real window of opportunity to develop and grow Wales’ marine energy industry.”
Gerallt Llewelyn Jones on behalf of Menter Môn said: “Menter Môn has worked hard to achieve this important milestone for Anglesey and North Wales. It is critical that we position ourselves at the centre of global developments in marine renewable energy, a known growth sector with substantial employment potential.”