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With almost 330 delegates BWEA Marine 07 was the world's largest dedicated wave and tidal stream energy conference. This number included company representatives from many different countries, with many different interests, emphasising the truly global nature of the opportunities presented by this rapidly evolving clean energy industry. Delegates heard from Government Ministers, senior industry figures and key bodies involved in the development of this sector in a programme that encompassed politics, policies and other aspects of project support both here in the UK and overseas.

On the day DEFRA launched their Marine Bill White Paper the Minister with responsibility for its delivery, Ben Bradshaw MP, confirmed the commitment of his department to ensuring wave and tidal stream energy projects are able to enter the water in a confident and timely manner. Lord Truscott, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy, also emphasised his interest in ensuring the UK remains at the forefront of this industry, ahead of the launch of the DTI's Energy White Paper, expected towards the end of May.

The Prime Minister's Senior Policy Advisor on Trade and Energy issues, Geoffrey Norris, also chaired a fascinating session on the value of preserving the marine renewables option for the future and what is being, and needs to be done, to realise this. With presentations from the Carbon Trust, Scottish Executive, BWEA and Allianz, the message was clear and simple – provide a suitable level of market support, and provide it now to ensure confidence in the future. Only by doing this will costs reduce, confidence in the technology increase and the economic and environmental benefits be realised. The practical aspects of project development were then addressed in the third session, alongside how future challenges in O&M and H&S are being approached, all key to the delivery of a sustainable industry.

The final session then opened many people's eyes to the market opportunities emerging overseas. With senior industry and Government figures representing the key countries presently involved in this sector it was clear that the UK holds only a marginal lead in technology development and is being pushed strongly in terms of market development. With attractive and increasing support systems in Portugal being complemented by similarly interesting opportunities in Spain, France and Oregon in the US, the increasing international competition to become the new market leader was obvious. It was also fascinating to hear how Canada and Ireland are positioning themselves with that very same idea in mind.

The interest created by this event emphasises the momentum behind this industry today, both here in the UK and overseas. However what it also does is highlight the crucial role played by BWEA in bringing all the key players together around the vital issues of the day. As the largest representative body for this industry in the world we will continue to engage with Government on behalf of our members to ensure their needs are heard and acted upon in a timely manner. We have been successful to date in doing this, and aim only to increase this success rate in the future, which will mean that the programme for BWEA Marine 08 will only be better.

Conference proceedings for Marine 07 are available on CD. These have been mailed to all delegates and are available for others to purchase for £99+VAT. To purchase the proceedings please complete and return the order form.

View the conference programme.

BWEA would like to extend thanks to all of the event sponsors, particularly core sponsors ScottishPower Renewables and Scottish Development International, as well as all those companies that took a display space: All-Energy, BMT Renewables, Densit a/s, EMU Ltd, EnergyEngineering, E.ON Renewables, Faber Maunsell, Garrad Hassan and Partners Ltd, Invest in Fife, NaREC, npower renewables, OPT, PMSS, ReNews, Scottish Development International and ScottishPower Renewables.