On Thursday 26th September Jeremy Miles AM, Counsel General for Wales and Brexit Minister was in Pembroke Dock to visit Bombora for a project update on its groundbreaking mWave™ wave power project.
Pembrokeshire boasts the highest concentration of wave resource in Wales. In addition, Pembroke Dock offers access to a highly skilled marine and industrial supply chain. These attributes first attracted Bombora to relocate its headquarters from Perth, Western Australia to Wales in 2017. Bombora now has 24 staff in Wales with plans for continued expansion, exporting technology and services to the growing global wave energy industry.
Counsel General and Brexit Minister, Jeremy Miles, who is responsible for EU funding in Wales, said: “The partnership between Welsh Government and experts in sustainable energy like Bombora are vital to our plans to meet the shared challenges of global climate change. I was delighted to visit Pembroke Dock to view this highly innovative marine energy technology, which will make full use of the Welsh coast’s unique natural wave and tide resources.
“By supporting collaborative research into marine energy systems, EU funding continues to drive progress in R&D, science, infrastructure and skills in Wales, as well as promoting economic growth and creating new jobs in Wales. It is essential that this funding continues, enabling us to lead the transition towards a flexible, low-carbon economy, and to progress towards a more equal, more prosperous, and greener Wales.”
Bombora has benefited from a £10.3 million European Regional Development Fund grant via the Welsh Government to validate the innovative mWave subsea wave energy converter. This support has resulted in a total inward investment of £17 million to Pembrokeshire.
Bombora is currently forging ahead with its ambitious Pembrokeshire Demonstration Project to design, build, deploy, test and validate a 1.5MW mWave – the most powerful wave energy converter ever built. mWave will be fully submerged on the sea floor and is non-disruptive to ocean users and marine life while generating electricity from the power of waves.
“The strong marine energy sector here in Pembrokeshire, coupled with the Welsh Government support, makes west Wales a natural home for wave technology developers like Bombora. It was great to share our journey with the Minister and we look forward to continuing our development and growth here in the heart of the emerging marine energy industry in Wales” said Sam Leighton, Managing Director of Bombora.
– ENDS –
Notes for editor:
About Bombora and the mWave™
Bombora has developed a membrane style wave energy converter called an ‘mWave™’. Located 10 meters beneath the ocean’s surface, similar to a fully submerged reef, it is invisible from the shoreline. As ocean waves pass over mWave, the membranes deflect, pumping air through a turbine to generate electricity. Electricity is directly transferred to shore via a submerged cable.
mWave is unique among wave energy converters as it simultaneously addresses the ‘cost of energy’ and ‘ocean wave survivability’ challenges.
L to R: Chris Williams Commercial Manager of Bombora, Jeremy Miles AM, Sam Leighton Managing Director of Bombora