The South West UK has been named a UK Marine Energy Park and is a hub for the development of marine renewable energy (MRE). In particular, the region has developed considerable facilities for testing devices to convert energy, and their components. As technology developers strive to progress their products to be commercially viable, these facilities are seeing unprecedented interest from the industry and the Wave Hub is one such facility. Situated in Cornwall, UK, this site offers developers an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of their technology to secure commercial interest. As such, verifying key processes is the principal aim for site-users; i. Energy extraction and device performance ii. Planning and execution of marine operations iii. Reliability predictions to inform service schedules during device operation iv. Environmental impacts. For these assessments, the more detailed information about the conditions the devices are experiencing and device response, the more confidence technology developers can have in their results. Through NERC research, data resources and expertise have built up in the academic community that have the capability to optimise the interpretation of oceanographic data for MRE applications, informing key processes identified above. Accessible tools to apply these methods and bring together data sets established through research will ease the access to essential information to refine their design and operating principles. Critically, it will also reduce uncertainty in estimating the true cost of energy conversion with this technology, generating more confidence in potential investors. This project proposes to bring together unique data sets and leading research methodologies developed through NERC science into a novel method to provide unprecedented level of detail for the assessment of physical conditions at an operational site. NERC research has developed methods for highly detailed analysis of the physical environment and shown the benefit of using methods developed specifically for marine renewable energy. By developing accessible tools to combine these research methods and regional data, the project aims to unlock the potential benefits for the benefit of technology companies using the site. Critical analysis of the process and the results will be used to verify the application of these tools to a practical situation. Results here will be used to refine and develop the methods used, aiming to develop useful, practical tools to be incorporated into the long term development of the industry. In order to achieve the aim the project has been arranged into three work packages (WP). WP1 is addressing the implementation of existing tools developed by UofE for validation of site data and to the assessment and characterisation of the environmental conditions at the Wave Hub site; WP2 will focus on the development of innovative algorithms that will incorporate methodologies developed through NERC research to the interpretation of oceanographic data; and WP3 will initiate the development of validation methods for the oceanographic interpretation algorithms, working towards their adoption into the development of standards to enhance MRE commercialisation. This project is also aimed at developing the relationship between academia and industry. The Wave Hub represent an excellent conduit to the marine renewable energy industry and the project will embed knowledge, data and experience in this organisation. Finally, the project will lay a foundation for the long term exchange of academic knowledge to the marine renewable energy industry, allowing this nascent industry to continue to benefit from NERC funded research activities.

The UK presently has the largest installed capacity of offshore wind, accounting for 36% of global capacity in 2017. The offshore wind industry contributed 9.8% of the UK's power in the 3rd quarter of 2019. In the 2019 Offshore Wind Sector Deal, the sector committed to building up to 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, with an ambition of increasing exports fivefold to £2.6bn. The Committee on Climate Change has recommended an installed capacity of 75 GW by 2050. Nearly all offshore wind turbines installed to date have been mounted on fixed bottom support structures located in water depths up to 60 m. Given the limited availability of suitable sites at such water depths, Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWT) will become increasingly important over the next decade to achieve the Offshore Wind Sector Deal goals and to help achieve the UK target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Sector Deal highlights the need for government to develop frameworks to support the advancement of technologies such as FOWT. Physical modelling is a critical tool for the development of a floating offshore wind turbine and is recommended in most development guidelines. This is especially true at early stages of the development of new concept with a technology readiness level (TRL) between 1 and 3. Testing model devices at scale in the controlled environment of a laboratory has many advantages. These include the proof (or otherwise) of novel design concepts, the ability to test in systematically changing conditions and the ability to test in conditions which have low occurrence probabilities (i.e. extreme events). Quantitative measurements of motions and loads on scaled FOWT models can be made with much greater ease and accuracy then at full scale at sea. Qualitative observations are far easier to observe as well. If done correctly these measurements and observations can lead to the evolution of device designs and concepts and reduce the chance of costly failure; if and when devices are eventually deployed at sea. The University of Plymouth COAST laboratory (www.plymouth.ac.uk/coast-laboratory) is a state-of-the-art research facility for the study of wave and current interaction with offshore and coastal structures using scaled physical modelling. It houses the Ocean Basin, a 35 m x 15.5 m tank with a raisable floor that can enable testing at water depths between 0.5 and 3 m. This project will establish the UKFOWTT - UK Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Test facility within the Ocean Basin. In addition to the wave and current generation that COAST can presently deliver, UKFOWTT will add wind generation to COAST. This will consist of a bank of axial fans, mounted on a gantry spanning the tank width and have the ability to generate winds up to 10 m/s, model gusting and have a controllable wind profile. The generator will be moveable vertically from just at the water's surface to approximately 1 m above. It will be rotatable +/- 30 degrees relative to the basin, enabling the influence of wave/current/wind/model alignment to be investigated. The primary purpose of UKFOWTT is to enable both fundamental and applied research in topics related to Floating Offshore Wind. This will be a unique facility within the UK, enabling systematic physical modelling experiments with wind, wave and currents simultaneously. Data collected from physical modelling can improve understanding of the underlying physics, support development of analytical theories and validate advanced numerical models. It is also a low risk method of testing new and novel concepts. UKFOWTT provides the associated instrumentation to support these studies. UKFOWTT will also support research in other sectors of Ocean and Coastal Engineering disciplines, including the Oil and Gas sector, floating wave, tidal and solar energy, autonomous vessels, launch and recovery operations and coastal defenses.

The vision for the ORE Hub is to pull together for mutual benefit three related areas; wave, tidal and offshore wind, which share synergies and research challenges. This will bring together shared skills and expertise across ORE and allow transfer of fundamental knowledge, shared learning on similar problems, and shared resource for interdisciplinary research. The different stages of development of the three sectors will allow the different technologies to learn from the experiences of one another and to share best practice in commercialisation and cost reduction. In order to realise the potential of ORE to achieve its aspirations and maintain the UK's leading position in this field; the sector needs to address some significant technical, environmental and interdisciplinary challenges. A coordinated response from different actors at national and regional level is required in order to tackle these challenges successfully. My aim for this 6-month project is to develop a shared vision for the ORE community and agreement on the strategy and design of the ORE SuperGen Hub to achieve that vision. It will be important that the project reflects the differences and synergies between the different sectors within the ORE SuperGen Hub. The specific research challenges facing offshore wind, tidal and wave technologies are quite distinct, but the work in synergic areas will add to existing research and expertise. I believe the collaborative approach will bring added benefits by sharing best practice and exploiting synergy. I will work to build the consortium and bring in expertise to cover all relevant areas. By following the Athena Swan best practice and initiatives, I will support E&D and ECR development so that ORE research has a secure future and continues to develop new research leaders.

The UK is currently at the forefront of the Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) sector, with almost 200 MW of installed capacity of wave and tidal stream projects, that are either operational, under construction or in development. Furthermore, the first floating offshore wind farm is being built off the coast of Scotland. In order to realise the potential of MRE to achieve the targets set by the Government and keep the UK's leading position; the sector needs to address some relevant technical, environmental and interdisciplinary challenges. A coordinated response from different actors at national and regional level is required in order to successfully face these challenges. In an attempt to provide this coordination and with an initial focus on the South west of the UK, the Partnership for Research In Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) was established, bringing together research expertise and access to facilities for MRE developments. PRIMaRE comprises the Universities of Plymouth, Exeter, Southampton, Bristol and Bath, along with the Marine Biological Association and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Completing the line-up of PRIMaRE is the South West Marine Energy Park and the Wave Hub facilities, acting as conduits between the research community and industry. More recently, PRIMaRE has extended its borders both nationally and internationally by including the Universities of Uppsala, Cardiff and Cranfield as associated partners of PRIMaRE. The core partner institutions have signed up to a partnership agreement to work together on research across the spectrum of MRE and to establish a 'network of excellence' centred in the South of the UK. PRIMaRE has established the annual conference (now in its third year) to showcase the research and provide a forum for discussion with MRE industry and academia, and have organised industry oriented workshops to identify research priorities in order to align research efforts with the requirements of the MRE sector. With the support of the EPSRC Network Grant, PRIMaRE aims to expand the partnership to a new level, making active and effective contributions to the challenges of the MRE sector. The Network brings together academic effort on MRE challenges, but also given the nascent state of the industry, aims to work closely with supply chain and industry partners, by providing training and a forum for sharing and exchange of ideas and through access to academic expertise and facilities. Unlike the academic focus of doctoral training schemes, the proposed network aspires to a broad sector approach, in which training and research collaborations are promoted both for conventional research and academic staff (i.e., post-docs, researchers, academics, PhD students) and for industry staff (developers, supply chain, test centres, regional government agencies). The proposed network has four main pillars of focus: (i) the annual PRIMaRE conference, expanded to become a key National and International event for the sector; (ii) the Key Challenge Workshops, an industry oriented dynamic and proactive forum to ensure alignment of PRIMaRE research priorities, and to focus on key emerging challenges requiring special attention; (iii) travel grants, which are crucial to ensure knowledge transfer and to promote the required mobility between academia and industry needed to develop new research collaborations nationally and internationally; and (iv) the PRIMaRE summer school, a continuing professional development (CPD) high level programme, providing the mechanism for exchange of knowledge between the research, academia, the novel MRE industry and wider sector.

The UK is at the forefront of the development, adoption and export of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) technologies: offshore wind (OW), wave and tidal energy. To sustain this advantage, the UK must spearhead research and innovation in ORE, which will accelerate its adoption and widen the applicability of these technologies. Many organisations across the industry-academia spectrum contribute to ORE research and development (R&D) co-ordination and the ORE Supergen hub strategy will take a leadership role, integrating with these activities to guide and deliver fundamental research to advance the ORE sector. The role of the Supergen ORE hub is to provide research leadership for the ORE community to enable transformation to future scale ORE. The hub will articulate the vision for the future scale ORE energy landscape, will identify the innovations required and the fundamental research needed to underpin the innovation. It will also generate the pathway for translation of research and innovation into industry practice, for policy adaptation and public awareness in order to support the increased deployment of ORE technologies, reducing energy costs while increasing energy security, reducing CO2 emissions and supporting UK jobs. The hub will work closely with the ORE Catapult (ORECAT) and become well-connected with industry, government, the wider research community in the UK and internationally. It will bring together these groups to assemble the expertise and experience to define and target the innovations, research and actions to achieve the ambitious energy transformation envisioned for the UK. The new Supergen ORE hub will continue to support and build on the existing internationally leading academic capacity within these three research areas (OW, wave and tidal technology), whilst also enabling shared learning on common research challenges. The ORE hub will build a multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach, which will bring benefits through the sharing of best practice and exploitation of synergy, support equality and diversity and the development of the next generation of research leaders. The hub strategy provides an overview of research and innovation priorities, which will be addressed through multiple routes but linked through the hub, with activities designed to stimulate alignment across the research community and industry sectors to maximise engagement with prioritised research challenges through and beyond the hub time-scale. These include: 1. Networking and engagement activities to bring the research community together with industry and other stakeholders to ensure research efforts within the community are aligned, complementary and remain inspired by or relevant to industry challenges. This will include support and development of the ECR community to ensure sustainability and promote EDI within the sector as a whole. Actions will also be taken to identify potential cross over research synergies and opportunities for transfer of research between sectors and disciplines, both within and external to ORE. Furthermore, a structured communication plan built around progress of the community towards the sector research challenges will promote exploitation and commercialisation. 2. A set of core research work packages addressing priority topics selected and structured to maximize progress towards the sector objectives and building on the cross cutting expertise of the co-director team. 3. Targeted use of flexible fund as seed-corn activity leading to projects aligned with, and in partnership with, the hub.