University of the Highlands and Islands and The European Marine Energy Centre Limited KTP 24_25 R4

Every new wave energy device currently faces the same bottleneck: before it can be deployed, regulators demand years of environmental monitoring data, but there is no agreed standard for how to collect, manage, or analyse that information. This project will develop a set of best-practice methods for handling environmental impact data from emerging marine energy technologies—tidal turbines, wave energy converters, and similar devices. At the moment, each developer collects data in a different way, making it difficult for regulators to compare results across projects or to retire concerns that have been shown to be low-risk. The lack of standardised methods slows down consenting processes and adds cost and uncertainty to every new installation. If the research succeeds, UK and global regulatory authorities will have a clear framework for evaluating environmental data. This would allow them to de-risk or retire specific environmental concerns—such as collision risk to fish or noise impacts on marine mammals—and streamline consent procedures. The practical outcome is a faster, more predictable path from prototype to grid-connected array, which would help accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to marine renewable energy without compromising environmental protection.