A joint venture, to develop a commercial scale wave energy project, between Swedish electricity utility Vattenfall and Irish hydrokinetic devloper, Tonn Energy, was unveilled today by the Irish Energy Minister Eamon Ryan TD. In announcing the project the minister confirmed that the Irish government would be supporting it, with grant aid,  through its Investment and Development Agency.

“Capturing the power of our waves is a hugely complex process, requiring intensive research and testing, as well as significant investment,” said Minister Ryan. “It takes time to get it right and with this grant assistance; Tonn Energy could be the first company in the world to succeed. This investment is a crucial step in realising our clean energy ambitions.

"At the North West of Europe and facing directly into the Atlantic Ocean, our wave resources are unrivalled. They present a real opportunity to generate carbon free electricity for our own market and beyond in the future.”

Tonn Energy’s immediate focus, it says, will be Research and Development on a site off the coast of Mayo County, being planned by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), which is currently making substantial investments in the necessary infrastructure, and whose involvement is crucial to the success of the project.

The test site is one of the key elements of the Irish Government’s Ocean Energy Programme. Tonn Energy is one of the first industry organisations collaborating with SEI on this project.

Today's announcement follows on from last week’s €4.3 million Irish Government investment in ten ocean energy companies, as part of the overall National Ocean Energy Strategy. This Strategy will see over 500MW (megawatts) of ocean energy generated by 2020 with Tonn Energy delivering over 250 MW (megawatts) of electricity in that timeframe.