Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk, says: “This ground-breaking Wave Hub project is evidence of British engineering and offshore expertise – almost 80% of the value of contracts awarded so far have gone to UK businesses.

“The UK is already leading the way in marine energy, with 25% of the world’s wave and tidal technologies being developed here. This is a huge opportunity for UK business – the sector could be worth £2 billion by 2050 and it has the potential to create up to 16,000 jobs by 2040.”

An additional grant of £1.5m from the RDA will allow wave energy company Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) to develop a larger version of its Powerbuoy wave energy generator.

OPT is currently developing a scaled-up 500 kW version of its existing 150 kW Powerbuoy wave energy device.

OPT will be working with A&P Falmouth and the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy during the development phase.

OPT also hopes to deploy a 150 kW version of the wave energy device at Wave Hub in Cornwall, UK.