Ocean surface wave 200x200 UCC lands major European energy contractScientists at University College Cork (UCC) will be at the center of Europe’s bid to promote sources of renewable maritime energy, after the institution was chosen to co-ordinate a trans-European contract worth over €9m.

The prestigious award means that UCC will be involved in streamlining testing at over 42 facilities in 12 European states, according to today’s Irish Times.

Ireland has the most active wave system in Europe alongside Scotland, making it the perfect geographic venue to test experimental research into ways of harnessing the ocean’s natural energy to generate power.

The research will see a series of environmental tests done in Cork to assess the viability of some rapidly developing technologies.

Government estimations say that a ‘fully developed’ ocean energy sector could be worth about €9bn, and fuel both a home and export market by 2030.

The technology could also see the creation of over 50,000 jobs.