Research group

Ocean Energy

Offshore wind turbines producing renewable and green energy

We bring together experts addressing energy challenges from the perspectives of technology, the environment, society, finance, and policy. Our aim is to unlock the potential of ocean renewable energy.

About

The Ocean Energy Special Interest Group (SIG) serves as a hub at the University of Southampton for matters related to the role of seas and oceans in decarbonizing the economy. It also helps achieve net-zero goals worldwide.

Research areas

Our topics of interest are centred around technological, environmental, societal, financial, and policy challenges related to:

  • harvesting of renewable energies (eg offshore wind, wave, freestream tidal energy, tidal barrages and floating solar systems)
  • storage and transformation of offshore energy (eg energy islands, H2 creation)
  • sustainable decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructures

Oceans are pivotal in the world strategy to meet the net-zero objectives, by providing abundant and clean sources of renewable energy. However, the full exploitation of this energy resource faces many challenges of diverse nature. These include the harsh offshore environment, sharing the ocean with many stakeholders, and evolving policy and regulations. Most importantly, it is essential to avoid mistakes of the past and wild industrialisation of our seas and oceans.

Vision and aims

Our vision is to bring together people and skills from across the university and many fields of research to develop transdisciplinary approaches for sustainable ocean energy exploitation. We do this through:

  • fostering research collaboration between faculties and fields of research
  • fostering collaboration with non-academic stakeholders and serving as a contact point for ocean energy matters
  • raising awareness of ocean energy challenges and showcasing how the University of Southampton is working to address these challenges through research, knowledge exchange and other means

Activities

Our events and opportunities are designed in line with the goals we aim to achieve. They include a combination of internal and external activities, such as:

  • themed workshops or lectures bringing together academic and non-academic partners
  • sandpit activities to lay the foundations of interdisciplinary grant application or paper writing
  • invited lectures on case studies from industry
  • development of educational material or media briefings

To find out more about the Ocean Energy Special Interest Group and what we do, get in touch with group champions Dr Yao Zhang, Dr Luke Myers and Dr Benjamin Cerfontaine.

Join the SMMI Community to sign up to this group, and any others of interest to you.

Research highlights

Making offshore carbon storage safe

A team of researchers in Southampton played a key role in a European project to determine the viability of safely and securely storing carbon offshore.

Optimising power transfer for renewable energy

Our researchers are running a series of projects to optimise the design of marine high voltage cables, used in offshore windfarms, to maximise power transfer and save money.

People, projects and publications

People

Professor John Marshall

Professor
Connect with John

Dr John Mcaleer

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • The British Empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
  • The East India Company and its worlds.
  • Islands and empires.

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with John

Professor John Mcbride

Professor of Electro-Mechanical Eng

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with John

Professor John Preston

Professor in Rail Transport

Research interests

  • Demand, capacity and cost modelling for sustainable transport infrastructure.
  • The design, monitoring and evaluation of transport interventions designed to promote sustainable choices.
  • The determination of pathways for future mobility transitions to net zero carbon.
Connect with John

Professor Jon Copley BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD, SFHEA

Professor

Research interests

  • Deep-sea ecology
  • Ocean exploration
Connect with Jon

Professor Jonathan Adams BA DPhil MIfA FSA FRSA

Professor of Archaeology

Research interests

  • the chronology and impact of environmental change on later prehistoric human populations in the Black Sea region
  • maritime connectivity in the Black Sea
  • ships as tools of Early Modern state-building
Connect with Jonathan

Professor Jonathan Bull

Professor in Ocean & Earth Science

Research interests

  • Fluid Flow and Carbon Capture and Storage
  • Monitoring, Measurement and Verification
  • Marine Geophysics

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Jonathan

Dr Jonathan Williams FIMarEST

Connect with Jonathan

Email: jonathan.williams@soton.ac.uk

Tel: +442380111595

Address: Boldrewood Campus, Burgess Road, SO16 7QF

Professor Jonathon Hare BEng (Hons), PhD, FHEA, MIET

Professor

Research interests

  • My main research interests lie in the area of representation learning;
  • The long-term goal of my research is to innovate techniques that can allow machines to learn from and understand the information conveyed by data and use that information to fulfil the information needs of humans.  

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Jonathon

Professor Jordan Cheer BMus (Tonmeister), MSc, PhD, CEng, MIMechE, FHEA

Professor

Research interests

  • Active Noise Control
  • Active Vibration Control
  • Smart Structures for Noise and Vibration Control

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Jordan

Related research institutes, centres and groups

Related research institutes, centres and groups

Connect with us

Enquiries

If you're interested in joining us or collaborating, get in touch with the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.