Abstract
The EquiMar project was funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme in response to the topic 2.6.3 of the ENERGY-2007-1-RTD call. The call was established to conduct pre-normative research aiming at harmonised testing methods and comparative assessment of ocean energy converters in terms of monitoring the performance, cost, and environmental impact. The expected outcome of this work was that the harmonised testing and assessment of ocean energy converters would facilitate the matching of different system designs to various marine environments, and accelerate their rate of deployment. The call fiche also noted that the commission expected small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to play a major role in the project.
In response to this call a consortium of 23 partners from 11 countries (Table 1.1) was brought together. The consortium reflected the fact that the equitable evaluation required a broad, multidisciplinary skill set. In addition if the protocols developed were to be accepted by the wider community then the consortium needed to engage with both the developers and end-users of this technology. In constructing the consortium for the project we sought to bring together leading European experts (from both academic groups and research organisations), developers of proven devices, test sites, certification agencies and end users of the technology. The core members of the consortium comprised academic groups, research laboratories and device developers and it was these members who have had the most direct input to the equitable evaluation protocols. However, since EquiMar aimed to produce a set of protocols for research funders, consenting authorities, investors and device owners the consortium also contained partners representing certifying authorities, industrial associations, end users and test sites. The need to include such diverse interests led to an unusually large consortium.
Acknowledgement: This article was identified by the Crown Estate Wave and Tidal Knowledge Network.