Leader for Wave Hub project appointed

Guy Lavender has been appointed as General Manager for the Wave Hub project.

The South West RDA today (November 12) announced Mr Lavender will take charge of the £42m wave energy project in January. Wave Hub will create the world's largest test site for devices that generate electricity from the sea.

After a comprehensive recruitment process Mr Lavender emerged as the outstanding candidate from a strong field.

Stephen Peacock, Executive Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the RDA, said: I am very pleased to be able to appoint Guy. We wanted to test the market for the most talented individuals available to take on this challenging role, and Guy's experience in delivering complex technical projects, and in providing exceptional leadership and stakeholder management was a perfect match.

Guy who currently works at the RDA as Director for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games  said: This is a dream job for me. The RDA has a strong commitment to developing a low carbon economy for the region and Wave Hub is a high-profile element of this. I am looking forward to working with partners, suppliers and local people to ensure the project continues its momentum and helps create a world-class marine energy industry here in the South West.

From January Guy will join the Wave Hub delivery team as the remaining installation contracts are awarded and construction begins, and he will then be responsible for leading the safe and efficient operation of Wave Hub. One of his first tasks will be to firm up the structure of the operations team and recruit additional specialist staff. He will also be setting up a Wave Hub office in Hayle.

Guy joined the Agency in May 2006 and has worked to ensure that the region reaps the maximum economic, cultural and tourism benefit from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, while encouraging more young people to take up sport.

A former Army Lieutenant Colonel who served in the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, Guy holds two Masters degrees, one in defence technology and another in business administration.

During his distinguished 17-year armed forces career, Guy served in some of the world's most volatile hotspots and held senior defence procurement positions within the Ministry of Defence having undertaken a high level of technical training.

This saw him lead different teams to deliver complex technical programmes in challenging environments.

Guy is also a keen sportsman whose interests include competitive running, skydiving, sailing, skiing and climbing.

Wave Hub is due to be in the water next year, with one of the four testing berths already signed up. Work on the shore side at Hayle is due to begin next week.

Wave Hub is funded with £12.5 million from the South West RDA, £20 million from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme and £9.5 million from the UK government.

Ends

Notes to Editors

1.  Images: an artist's impression of Wave Hub can be downloaded at www.flickr.com/photos/southwestengland. Scroll down the right hand side of the screen and click on the ˜Wave Hub' set.

2.  The South West RDA leads the development of a sustainable economy, investing to unlock the region's business potential. It is helping companies respond to the economic crisis and charts a course for recovery. The RDA is developing or expanding initiatives which include: establishing a Business Loan Fund; coordinating the response to large companies in difficulty; preparing for economic recovery.More information can be found at www.southwestrda.org.uk

3.  Wave Hub is a major marine renewables infrastructure project that will create an electrical ˜socket' on the seabed in some 50 metres of water around 16kms (10 miles) off the coast of Cornwall in South West England and connected to the National Grid via a subsea cable. Groups of wave energy devices will be connected to Wave Hub and float on or just below the surface of the sea to assess how well they work and how much power they generate before going into full commercial production. There are four berths available at Wave Hub, each covering two square kilometres. Wave Hub will have an initial maximum capacity of 20MW (enough electricity to power approximately 7,000 homes) but has been designed with the potential to scale up to 50MW in the future. The project will be built in the summer of 2010 with the first wave energy devices expected to be deployed in 2011.

4.   An independent economic impact assessment has calculated that Wave Hub could create 1,800 jobs and inject £560 million in the UK economy over 25 years. Almost 1,000 of these jobs and £332 million could be generated in the South West.

5.   Legal agreements have been signed with leading renewable energy company Ocean Power Technologies Limited to take the first berth at Wave Hub using its PowerBuoy wave energy converter. Images of PowerBuoy can be downloaded at www.flickr.com/photos/southwestengland

6.   JDR Cable Systems Ltd has been appointed to manufacture the armoured 26.5 km (16.5 mile) 33kV cable and hub assembly for Wave Hub at its factory in Hartlepool in a contract worth £7.6 million. The cable will weigh 1,500 tonnes. The hub will be about the size of a Mini car and sit on the seabed. It will split the main cable linking it to the National Grid on shore into four 300m cables to which groups of wave energy devices can be attached and monitored for how they perform

7.    Powermann Ltd of Poole in Dorset has been appointed to handle the £1 million onshore electrical works that will connect Wave Hub to the UK's National Grid network. The remaining packages of work, including offshore cable laying, are expected to be let before the end of the year.

8.   The RDA has awarded a research and development grant of £229,000 to wave device developer Orecon in Bodmin, Cornwall, with a view to the company coming to Wave Hub in the future.

9.   With government, RDA and European funding, the total investment in the South West's marine energy programme in the next two years is expected to top £100 million, putting the region at the forefront of this emerging global industry.

10.  In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly the Convergence Programmes are made up of European Regional Development Fund (£347 million) and European Social Fund (£153 million). Convergence Programmes will run until 2013 and follow the successful Objective One Programme and prior to that Objective 5b. For further information see: www.convergencecornwall.com. Convergence helpline telephone: 0800 0280120.

Source: http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/

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