Turnkey

TURNKEY (Transforming Underutilised Renewable Natural Resource into Key Energy Yields) is designed to create a thriving industry that will help reduce the causes of climate change and bring secure, long-term jobs, whilst protecting the coastal and marine environment. Rarely has a new industry presented such remarkable potential.

To address the challenges in the Atlantic Area, thematic priorities and specific objectives to strengthen cooperation have been identified.

This project fulfils Priority 2 of the Atlantic Area Trans-national Programme – Protect, secure and enhance the marine and coastal environment sustainably.

2.1: Improve maritime safety
2.2: Sustainable management and protection of the resources of marine spaces
2.3: Exploit the renewable energy potential of the marine and coastal environment
2.4: Protect and promote the natural spaces, water resources and coastal zones.

The TURNKEY project will achieve the objectives of this strategy by providing outcomes aimed at accelerating wave and tidal power development throughout the Atlantic Areas.

The aim of TURNKEY is to become a ‘hub’ for marine energy research, capable of attracting top research teams and scientific collaborations to the industry. TURNKEY will use a ‘triple helix approach’, the closer working of academic, business and government partners to promote regional growth and renewal, which is being increasingly used to maximise outcomes.

TURNKEY is an innovative project in that as well as utilising the marine environment to create energy, it will also promote the sustainable development of rural Atlantic Areas where the population density and relative level of development are traditionally low. Also, these areas are often fuel poverty areas and suffer from high unemployment.

The objectives of the project are to:

Survey, map and characterise potential development sites.
Design a pre-development marine energy consent strategy.
Identify methods to de-risk project development.
Build the economic and business case for further investments.
Develop enduring relationships between Atlantic Area partners and businesses in the marine energy sectors.
Undertake experiments on a test site to provide cost effective monitoring.