OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems
OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems
OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems
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V<br />
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE<br />
DR. JOHN HUCKERBY<br />
Aotearoa Wave and Tidal <strong>Energy</strong> Association<br />
<strong>OES</strong> Chairman 2009-<strong>2012</strong><br />
Last year’s <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> introduced the new face of <strong>Ocean</strong> <strong>Energy</strong> <strong>Systems</strong> (<strong>OES</strong>) and a new Vision for<br />
the future of ocean energy. During <strong>2012</strong> we have been spreading the message of our new mission – to be<br />
the “Authoritative International Voice for <strong>Ocean</strong> <strong>Energy</strong>” – and our Vision. During the year we revised<br />
that Vision to include modelling results from the IEA’s <strong>Energy</strong> Technology Perspectives <strong>2012</strong> report, which<br />
for the first time included ocean energy in its modelling. Consequently <strong>OES</strong> and the IEA now speak with a<br />
single voice on the future development trends in ocean energy.<br />
During 2010 and 2011 the <strong>OES</strong> Executive had been working hard to secure a 3 rd 5-year mandate to continue<br />
operating to promote ocean energy internationally. <strong>OES</strong> not only produced a new 5-year Strategic Plan<br />
but it overhauled its ‘brand’, by updating its name, its logo and, more recently, its website (www.oceanenergy-systems.org).<br />
The Committee for <strong>Energy</strong> Research and Technology (CERT) confirmed on 28 February <strong>2012</strong> that <strong>OES</strong><br />
had successfully secured a 3 rd 5-year term and the Executive has been working since that time to begin to<br />
deliver the actions outlined in the Strategic Plan. The Executive’s meetings this year (in Daejeon, Korea and<br />
Aalborg, Denmark) were designed around the Strategic Plan and a number of new Annexes and Activities<br />
are in progress or being planned.<br />
During <strong>2012</strong> we have been working with a number of countries, whom have expressed interest in joining<br />
<strong>OES</strong>. These include France, the European Commission, Monaco, Singapore, Malaysia and Nigeria. I am<br />
pleased to say that, subject to approval from the CERT, Nigeria will become the 20 th member of <strong>OES</strong>, the<br />
first time that any representative from Nigeria has become part of an IEA organization.<br />
Activity levels in ocean energy remain high in NW Europe and North America, whilst interest and activity has<br />
been increasing in the circum-Pacific countries. <strong>OES</strong> is committed to making governments around the Asia-<br />
Pacific aware of the potential for ocean energy in their exclusive economic zones. An increasing number<br />
of devices continue to be tested or deployed, as the number of operational testing centres, particularly<br />
in NW Europe, continues to rise. It is an unusual feature of ocean energy that cross-border collaboration,<br />
typified by the <strong>OES</strong> Executive, continues to be important and the European Union has been in the forefront<br />
of encouraging this collaboration.<br />
During <strong>2012</strong> the International Vision for <strong>Ocean</strong> <strong>Energy</strong> (version II) brochure has been widely presented and<br />
distributed at international ocean energy conferences. The <strong>OES</strong> is presently consolidating its relationship<br />
with the series of International Conferences on <strong>Ocean</strong> <strong>Energy</strong>, the most recent of which – ICOE <strong>2012</strong> in<br />
Dublin - was probably the largest international conference on ocean energy in the world to date (960<br />
delegates). We hope that ICOE 2014, which will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 29 September – 1<br />
October 2014 will bring together a similarly large and informed audience (www.icoe2014canada.org).<br />
This is my last message as the Chairman of <strong>OES</strong>. I am happy that I hand over the role to my Vice-Chairman,<br />
Mr. Jose Luis Villate of Spain, with the <strong>OES</strong> Executive in good heart: a strong Annex and Activity programme<br />
and a budget to deliver the outcomes of this programme. I cannot end, however, without thanks to all<br />
the members of the <strong>OES</strong> Executive with whom I have had the privilege to work over the last four years,<br />
particularly the three Vice-Chairmen, who survived the onslaught of emails from me during their terms with<br />
good grace and prompt replies.<br />
Finally, I end with my deep appreciation and thanks to Dr. Ana Brito e Melo of the Wave <strong>Energy</strong> Centre<br />
in Lisbon. She has been the Secretary of <strong>OES</strong> since I first joined in 2006. She is the heart and soul of<br />
the organization and works tirelessly to serve the Executive and its officers. We could not have been so<br />
successful without her timely, thoughtful and insightful contributions. It is fitting she gets the next word…