Bristol energy consultancy harnesses tidal power with European Funding

South West businesses are being urged to explore the benefits of the availability of over €50 billion of EU funding opportunities for collaborative research and development projects from the Framework Programme Seven (FP7) programme.

One such organisation that has successfully participated in, and lead, FP7 projects are Bristol-based IT Power, a leading international energy consultancy specialising in the engineering and application of energy and renewable energy projects worldwide.

IT Power successfully lead an international consortium of eight SME and research organisation partners to develop a pre-production 1.2MW prototype of an innovative tidal power technology, which uses oscillating hydrofoils to take power from tidal currents. This is a four year project which was awarded €8 million, towards a total project cost of €14 million.

FP7 is Europe’s main funding source for collaborative research and development. This is open to a broad range of organisations worldwide (public and private) and individuals including university research groups, companies planning to innovate, small and medium-sized enterprises and researchers.

Jeremy Thake, principal engineer, IT Power, says: “Phase one is now complete and phase two is underway. We worked hard to get a good consortium together with the capabilities to undertake this substantial task and are really benefiting from this collaboration. Without forming this consortium and being granted the FP7 funding, we would not have been able to proceed with this project”.

Kenny Legg, Enterprise Europe Network South West’s European R&D advisor, says: “We are delighted that IT Power is leading on this project and urge other organisations to look at the opportunities involved in FP7. There are numerous benefits to participating in an FP7 project, not just the financial support for R&D. Participation can give your organisation the chance to access advanced technology, benefit from collaboration with key industry players, access to cutting edge technology development and the ability to access new markets”.

For more information about Enterprise Europe Network or the FP7 Programme please contact or email kenny.legg@enterpriseeuropesw.org.uk

For any information on IT Power, please contact jeremy.thake@itpower.co.uk

Published: Friday, 28th January 2011