Reflecting on 10 Years of Marine Energy in Wales – Charlotte Wood

Charlotte Wood is Commercial Manager at Mainstay Marine Solutions in Pembroke Dock.

As Marine Energy Wales marks its 10^th anniversary, she reflects on the progress made within the sector, the challenges still ahead and why collaboration is key.

Tell us about your current role and your connection to the Welsh marine energy sector, what led you to where you are today?

I started at Mainstay 11 years ago, and I was involved with Marine Energy Pembrokeshire before it became Marine Energy Wales.

I remember the discussions in those very early days focusing on how marine energy was a Wales-wide issue, not just centred here in Pembrokeshire, and that was exciting and encouraging at the time. It moved the conversation away from the local community and into something with much wider commercial benefit for the UK and further afield.

Early on, there were only a few of us in the room, and it was quite hard to scramble together initially. But things grew significantly, quite quickly.

In Pembrokeshire, Mainstay was possibly one of the first SMEs to get involved in the sector, building the TLS device, which was a good project but unfortunately fell at the first hurdle financially. It was our first opportunity to show that the marine engineering requirements needed to build these sorts of devices linked well with boatyard skills, and that really opened the renewables industry for us.

Looking back over the last 10 years of the sector, what do you think has changed the most?

For a long while there seemed to be a perception that the sector was mostly made up of environmentalist advocates, and some of the bigger businesses might have dismissed marine energy without seeing it as a real commercial opportunity.

Now, the conversation has shifted towards a need for energy security, and the fact that all homes are now feeling the pinch, even the oil and gas majors looking to transition are standing up and listening.

Has there been a moment in the last decade that made you stop and think, “this industry is actually happening?”

I would say the success of the recent consenting rounds is the first step. For a while, it has felt like lots of conversation with nothing really transpiring, and that can be quite dangerous for a new sector.

I was worried that momentum might stop at a UK Government level, but now I can see that this real energy mix is happening, where we have some floating offshore wind, we have some onshore wind, wave, tidal, nuclear, and people are really starting to understand the value of that diverse energy mix.

In terms of SMEs like us, tidal and FLOW presents a real opportunity for traditionally deprived coastal areas to benefit and bring back money where it’s needed most, and it does feel like the government is finally beginning to recognise that.

In your opinion, if anything, what’s still holding the marine energy sector back today and what are the biggest challenges it still faces?

Probably money. There seems to be a lot of R&D money and grants around, but not so much support in terms of building the devices, and even less so to commercialise and scale-up.

I don’t think Wales is lacking in aspiration, and there’s been fantastic progress in things like consulting and test areas like META, but money is still a significant hurdle I think.

What role has Marine Energy Wales played in your own career or organisation and for  the wider industry?

I think if Marine Energy Wales hadn’t been formed ten years ago when it was, there wouldn’t be a sector in Wales.

It has been a major catalyst, if not the only reason, we have test sites here and why Wales is now leading from a marine energy perspective across the UK and further afield.

The team has so much capability, so much knowledge, so much vibrancy and energy to act as a conduit between SMEs, academia and government. Naturally, none of us are very good at talking to each other because we all have different priorities and ways of working, so we need organisations like MEW to manage these different voices and differences.

Personally, I’m very passionate about marine energy and I was pushing hard early on to diversify into the sector, and MEW has really helped me understand how to do that.

What would you like to see for the sector ten years from now?

I would like to see boots on the ground in Pembroke Dock, with lots of vessels coming in and out. I’d love to see young people going through the education system and not have to move elsewhere for well-paid jobs, instead being really excited about the opportunity we have here on our doorstep.

I would also love to see Pembrokeshire put back on the map in terms of creating something economically viable, because honestly, Wales has done terribly in terms of economic development for many, many years. We are a beautiful country, but we are significantly behind the economic curve, so that would be my ultimate vision, and I would love to see an improvement on that in the next 10 years.

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