Marine-i, the EU funded programme set up to boost the marine technology sector in Cornwall, has made its first grant award to Cornish marinetech company Triskel Marine.
Employing eight people, Triskel Marine is a hi-tech company which recently moved to the Marine Enterprise Zone in Hayle, Cornwall. The company specialises in marine data management, communications and power control for the marine industry. They engaged with the Marine-i programme in order to progress a new product from working prototype to commercial product. The innovative product will be launched from Cornwall into the fast-growing global hybrid energy market for mid-sized boats. It is expected to be unveiled at a launch event in the USA in Autumn 2018.
The grant to Triskel Marine, the first from Marine-i’s Marine Challenge Fund, has enabled the company to build a comprehensive hybrid test rig for its new product. Triskel Marine’s founder and Managing Director, Ken Wittamore, says: “Hybrid energy and propulsion are the future. Marine-i has enabled us to supercharge our research and development on this ground-breaking new product. The grant means we’ve been able to purchase specialised test equipment and prototyping tools, and to buy computer modelling software. It is enabling us to carry out the world class testing that is vital to our success.”
Part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Marine-i is a £9.3m collaboration between the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, The Cornwall College Group, Cornwall Marine Network, Cornwall Development Company and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult. It brings together key infrastructure and expertise to enable technology innovation in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s marine sector, which has been identified as an area of high growth potential by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership.
Professor Lars Johanning from the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus, who leads the Marine-i initiative, says: “Marine-i delivers the most comprehensive range of support ever offered to businesses to enable marine technology growth in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. This includes grant funding, business assistance, academic research, test facilities, subsidised graduate placement and more.
“Triskel Marine is a great example of a highly innovative specialist company within Cornwall. The Marine-i consortium has been really impressed with Triskel’s technology and their plans to bring it to market. We’re delighted that Marine-i can enable this growth for Cornwall’s marine tech sector.”
To find out more about Cornwall’s marine technology sector, or about the Marine-i programme, contact the Cornwall Trade and Investment team.
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