The UK and Welsh Governments have agreed to approve the Pembroke Dock Marine project business case.

The demonstration zone is expected to be the largest facility of its kind in the world, delivered by Wave Hub Limited for the testing of full-scale wave and floating wind energy devices. 

The Pembroke Dock Marine Swansea Bay City Deal project will create a world-class centre for marine engineering with an immediate focus on low carbon energy. The project is expected to generate more than 1,800 jobs in the next 15 years and to generate £73.5 million a year to the Swansea Bay City Region’s economy.

Pembroke Dock Marine is the Swansea Bay City Deal’s only private sector led project and is made up of four elements:

• The Marine Energy Test Area within the Milford Haven Waterway led by Marine Energy Wales, enabling technology developers to test their marine energy devices close to their base of operation
• The largest facility of its kind in the world, a 90 square kilometre Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone delivered by Wave Hub Limited that will enable the deployment of future energy generating technologies, including floating wind
• Marine Energy Engineering Centre of Excellence - a technology, innovation and research centre delivered by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult
• Redevelopment of land at Pembroke Dock, led by the Port of Milford Haven, to deliver the infrastructure needed by the industry as it continues to mature

This is a significant step in moving forward the Swansea Bay City Deal and in demonstrating commitment to the development of a Centre of Excellence for marine technology in Wales.

Pembroke Dock Marine project

The Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone is located off the South Pembrokeshire coast and comprises a 90 sq km area of seabed with water depths of between 50-62 metres. It is located between 15-21kms offshore. Management of the zone is provided by Wave Hub Ltd, the operating company of Wave Hub in Cornwall.

The Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone is currently leased to accelerate wave energy technology development and has the potential to deploy three wave arrays of up to 30MW generating capacity each. In addition, the zone could support a 90MW floating wind demonstration project. The site benefits from a 19 kW/m wave resource and 10 m/s wind resource.

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