More than £8 million of European Union money is being pumped into a new ‘virtual centre of competence’ at Queen’s University in Belfast to support cross-border research into bio-energy and marine-based renewable energy sources.

The facility is being named after the late Professor Ian Bryden, who was a leading expert in marine renewable energy.
Working with a number of cross-border partners — including the University of Highlands & Islands, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Ulster University, the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Donegal County Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council — the project will create the largest amount of cross-border research in this specific area to date.

It will include the use of tidal power at Strangford Lough and the North Antrim Coast, ocean energy sites in Western Scotland, as well as the potential for wave and tidal power generation in Donegal.

Known as the Bryden Centre for Advanced Marine and Bio-Energy Research, the project will recruit 34 PhD students and six post-doctoral research associates to produce industry-relevant research that has the potential for strong commercial benefit.

The centre will also focus on bio-energy — specifically heat, bio-gas and that which can be produced through the anaerobic digestion of agri-food waste.

The Special EU Programmes Body has offered funding of £8.2 million towards the project. Match-funding has been provided by the Department for the Economy in Belfast and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in Dublin.