MREDS News, updated July 22, 2010
MASTS/MREDS Future Research Workshops - Marine Renewables
A workshop to be held at the Orkney Campus from the 20th to the 22nd of October, 2010.
MREDS Newsletter, Issue 2 Now Available
Issue 1 of the MREDS newsletter (Autumn.Winter 2009/2010) is now available to dowb load here.
MREDS Newsletter, Issue 1 Now Available
Issue 1 of the MREDS newsletter (Autumn.Winter 2008/2009) is now available to dowb load here.
MREDS Meeting - Friday 5th December 2008
The first annual MREDS and SRDG Steering Group meetings were held at ICIT on Friday 5 December.
The MREDS meeting, chaired by Lord Wallace of Tankerness, was attended by funding partners, industrial sponsors, workpackage leaders and researchers. Workpackage leaders gave an update on progress. Several new research opportunities were discussed including the integration of different renewable sources with medium term energy storage. Discussion on the way forward for the MREDS research programme identified Joint Industry Projects (JIPs) as an alternative to public research funding.
The SRDG Steering Group, which focuses on the environmental aspects of the MREDS research, met in the afternoon. The meeting was attended by researchers and other stakeholders, including SNH, RSPB and SEPA. The Steering Group’s task is to identify priorities for research. Again, each workgroup leader gave a presentation on progress, followed by an open discussion.
The meetings were well attended, despite the Green Energy Awards being held in Edinburgh the previous evening.
Professor Jonathan Side would like to extend his thanks to all those who contributed to the meeting.
For more information about the MREDS research programme contact Professor Jonathan Side.
SRDG - Advancing Marine Renewable Energy Research Capacity in Scotland
The 2008 Annual Report, part of Work Package 5-is now available here.
Presentation at the International Conference on Ocean Energy, 2008
Dr.Pandian, Mr.Robert Beharie (both from ICIT, Orkney) and Dr.Mark Shields (ERI, Thurso) were participated in the International Conference on Ocean Energy held at Brest, France during 15 - 17, October 2008 and presented a poster titled 'A Multidisciplinary Approach to Advancing Marine Renewable Energy Research in Scotland'.
RASCAL PF - a Tidal and Wave Energy Monitoring Scheme for the Pentland Firth
(4-5th August 2008)
In August 2008 a group of experts met at ICIT on Heriot-Watt University's Orkney Campus in Stromness to discuss the development of a comprehensive wave, and tidal current, data acquisition project for the Pentland Firth. The project called RASCAL PF, is jointly led by ICIT in Orkney and the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) in Thurso. Professor Jonathan Side described the project as "an essential prerequisite to any serious renewable energy development of the Pentland Firth". The wider project team includes experts from Heriot-Watt University, ERI, University of Sheffield, Edinburgh University and Stanford University (California). Professor Side continued to explain that "we know there is a tremendous amount of energy in the Pentland Firth, however our knowledge of the complex tidal currents there, and how they interact with waves, is extremely limited. We know that existing models of the tidal regime in the Firth fail to describe what is really happening and RASCAL PF will address this problem" The project team plan to install novel HF Radar technology in Caithness and Orkney, in addition to more conventional data recording techniques. This will allow the team to develop the first accurate model of the tidal flow in the Pentland Firth. For more information about the project contact Professor Jon Side.
Left To right: Dr Rob Harris, Professor Margot Gerritsen, Professor Lucy Wyatt, Dr Sandy Kerr, Dr Pandian Pitchai, Dr Mark Shields, Professor Jonathan Side, Dr Karl Stephen, Dr Scott Couch, Dr David Woolfe, Emmanuel Osalusi