21 March 2017
The signing of the landmark Swansea Bay City Region deal has been welcomed by the Port of Milford Haven, which is spearheading ‘Pembroke Dock Marine’ – a project that will develop a world class centre for marine energy around the Milford Haven Waterway.
On Monday 20th March, Prime Minister Theresa May met with Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones and the region’s leaders, marking the start of £1.3bn of investment in eleven projects over the next fifteen years in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot and the creation of over 9,000 jobs.
Pembroke Dock Marine is a collaboration between four key project partners – the Port of Milford Haven, Marine Energy Wales, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Wave Hub. The partners will form the core Project Board, along with academic representatives from Swansea University and Pembrokeshire College.
Building on from an existing high-skill cluster site, Pembroke Dock Marine is focused on creating infrastructure and facilities at Pembroke Port necessary for maximum process efficiency, while bringing together the skills required to drive innovation and herald the commercialisation of marine energy technology. It will enhance the UK’s current industry proposition by adding four key elements:
a. The redevelopment of operational space at Pembroke Dockyard to increase efficiencies and reduce costs
b. A Marine Energy Engineering Centre of Excellence (MEECE) – a research and training facility offering practical onsite test and learn opportunities;
c. A Marine Energy Test Area (META) – the creation of consented areas of Waterway close to an operational base with enabling infrastructure; and
d. Array Demonstration Zones for wave and tidal – the development of a 90km2 leased site for commercial deployment of 100MW capacity of full-scale wave energy arrays.
Alec Don, Chief Executive at the Port of Milford Haven, welcomed the City Deal commenting “Although the realisation of the plan is still a couple of years away, this is an exciting time for us as a business. The Pembroke Dock Marine project in its entirety will draw down around £28m of funding and will have huge benefits for the local community. Bringing in new investment, jobs and opportunities for future generations builds a more prosperous Haven and we are looking forward to working with our partners in the area to make this happen.”
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