The latest exciting developments taking place in the marine renewable energy sector in both Cornwall and Finistère were top of the agenda at the MERiFIC conference held in Brest in France.

The pioneering MERiFIC project, which is led by Cornwall Council, aims to increase the adoption of marine energy across Cornwall and Finistère. The one day conference, which was attended by representatives from the marine energy sector from both regions, also provided an opportunity for the audience to hear first hand about the positive results coming from the collaborative work in a range of key areas.

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Julian German, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy and Culture, who was one of the key note speakers at the event held at Océanopolis, said “Both Cornwall and Finistère regions are at a pivotal moment in their history as we are now going to test pre-commercial Marine Renewables Energy devices.

“I am confident that as a result of the hard work and collaboration from both Cornwall and Finistère, we have now put ourselves in the best position to be able to make real benefit from the marine renewable sector. From supply chain to deployment, we have a great deal of expertise to offer and international interest is increasingly strong”.

The conference also provided an insight into the key issues currently being discussed by policy-makers and information on the tools that will support the growth of the marine energy sector at regional level.

Nicolas Wallet, MERiFIC Project Manager said: “MERiFIC supports Marine Renewable Energy in far peripheral regions and islands and communities, by creating an economic development strategy that includes technological, environmental, political environment and the stakeholder engagement.”

The conference focused on four main themes:

1. Technical and environmental issues – wave resource mapping, environmental impact assessment, marine operations
2. Policy issues – financial incentives, barriers to development, health and safety
3. Regional impact of MRE – supply chain, skills, regional strategies, MRE projects in the pipeline
4. Stakeholder engagement – tools, case studies, best practice in working with stakeholders in the development of MRE arrays.

For further details about the MERiFIC project visit: www.merific.eu.