Funding Boost for Innovating Floating Solar and Wave Energy Projects

Home Marine Energy ‍ Floating ⁢solar and wave energy projects grab a slice of $88M Energy Catalyst funding

⁣ December ‍26, 2023, by Ajsa Habibic

Exciting news coming in from Innovate ⁣UK’s Energy Catalyst program! Over £40 million (around $88 million) has been granted to a variety of projects striving to harness clean energy, including floating solar ⁤and wave energy projects. For illustrative⁢ purposes only. (Courtesy of DNV)

These grants awarded in Round‌ 10 of Energy Catalyst are part of the Ayrton Fund for clean energy innovation, with funding provided by the‍ Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) ⁢through the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform, and the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT).

A ‌total of 64 projects were selected with activities spanning 24 countries⁢ in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and ⁣the Indo-Pacific region. The projects aim to ‌advance innovation in areas including next-generation solar, smart green grids, hydrogen, clean cooling, and renewable-based alternatives to fossil fuel⁢ generators.

Several projects will benefit from the grant funding ‌and business support, for instance, the Solar2Wave project, proposed by HelioRec, Cranfield University, Achelous Energy, ‌and local Indonesian partners.Its goal is to build Indonesia’s first⁢ floating solar power plant⁣ on the ocean and to provide affordable and clean energy to replace diesel generators being used on Indonesian islands that are too distant ⁣to access their national grid.

Moreover, there⁢ are a number of wave energy projects that are among the winners of‌ Energy Catalyst Round 10, such as Islanded Wave Powered Microgrid Pilot for Remote Islands in Thailand proposed by Aquatera Limited, Open-Water Demonstration ⁣of INWave Wave Energy Converter Power Plant in Vietnam by Ingine Wave Energy Systems, and Fiji WAVEFLOW by Aeon Energy.