A £1.2 million investment in a new wave tank testing facility for the South West of the UK has been unveiled today (29th October) by the South West Regional Development Agency. The investment is part of the Agency's three-year £7.3 million investment in the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE), and will be located at the University of Plymouth. The main wave tank at the facility will measure 35 metres by 15 metres and be 2 metres deep. It is expected to be completed in early 2012.

According to the SWRDA the new facility will be unique in the UK because it will allow model testing in both multi-directional waves and variable direction currents, and will also be able to model shallow and deep water conditions. It will enable the testing of scale models of wave and tidal energy devices individually and in arrays.

Commenting on the announcement, Jonny Boston, the South West RDA's Offshore Renewable Energy Manager, said: "This new laboratory will be a first in the UK and will offer the marine renewables industry a state of the art test facility backed by the considerable academic and research expertise of PRIMaRE. It is the latest step in our ambition to be a global centre for marine energy research."

Deborah Greaves, Reader in Coastal and Marine Engineering at the University of Plymouth and one of the lead academics at PRIMaRE, said: "The proposed new wave tank testing facility is already generating quite a stir in the marine renewables industry because of the full range of testing that it will offer. Not only can we test the performance of wave and tidal devices, but we can also model how these devices might impact on coastal conditions."