The Marine Energy Council announces new Board for 2025/26

The new Board including leading developers; Tidal Technologies, HydroQuest, CorPower Ocean, Magallanes Renovables and Inyanga Marine.  

They are joined by key marine energy sites including Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre, and Anglesey’s Morlais.

Wave Energy Scotland is represented on the Board by its new Managing Director Jonathan Hodges. The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and leading offshore operations company Leask Marine bring a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the real-world challenges and opportunities presented by marine energy.   

Two additional board members, Professor Henry Jeffrey, Chair of the International Energy Agency’s Ocean Energy Systems group and head of policy at the University of Edinburgh, and Andrew Smith, Partner at Greenbackers, have been elected by the MEC membership.

Chair of the Marine Energy Council, Sue Bartlett-Reed welcomed the new Board:

“We are at a critical moment in the UK’s marine energy journey.  We can harness the potential of our waves and tides with UK supply chains and play a key role in delivering net zero.  With record levels of contracted tidal stream capacity and growing international momentum in wave energy, the decisions we take now will determine whether the UK can lead this expanding global export market.

Our new Board is committed to making sure marine energy is part of the national conversation and will advocate for the policies and support needed to realise our full potential.

I thank each Board member for stepping up to this challenge.”

Tidal Technologies Limited (TTL) will be represented on the MEC Board for the first time by Jim Conybeare-Cross, Founder Director. TTL is seeking to construct and deploy its first 2MW vertical axis tidal stream turbine in 2026 at the Morlais tidal energy development zone, with a pathway to deliver a 30MW project in 2028, followed by larger arrays from 2029 onwards. 

Jim Conybeare-Cross said: 

“The UK has a rich tidal stream resource which can make a significant contribution to the energy mix. Our ambition at TTL is to develop gigawatt scale sites in large areas of medium energy tides around the UK coast and export our technology globally. 

We strongly support the MEC’s efforts to position the UK as a global leader in marine energy, and I look forward to contributing to that mission as a member of the Board.”

The MEC Board for 2025/26:

Sue Bartlett-Reed, Chair

Eileen Linklater, Corporate Affairs Director, EMEC

Jim Conybeare-Cross, Founder Director, Tidal Technologies

John Macleod, Commercial Director, Leask Marine

Guillaume Greau, Head of Business Development, HydroQuest

John Jenkins, Director, Morlais

Alejandro Marques, CEO, Magallanes Renovables

Jonathan Hodges, Managing Director, Wave Energy Scotland

Richard Parkinson, Managing Director, Inyanga Marine

Anders Jansson, Head of Business Development, CorPower Ocean

Andrew Smith, Partner, Greenbackers

Professor Henry Jeffrey, Head of Policy and Innovation, University of Edinburgh

Dr Stephen Wyatt, Director of Strategy and Emerging Technology, ORE Catapult.

 For further information please visit marineenergycouncil.co.uk.