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

    Miss Hannah Witt

    Research interests

    • Deep Sea Mining Law of the SeaCommon Heritage of MankindOcean GovernanceSustainability
    Connect with Hannah

    Dr Hugo Putuhena

    RF in Offshore Renewable Energy

    Research interests

    • Geospatial assessment  
    • Seabed/ocean digitalisation   
    • Offshore renewable energy
    Connect with Hugo

    Dr Ibrahim Sari

    Associate Director of Business Dev in ES

    Research interests

    • Semiconductors
    • System Integration
    • Advanced Packaging
    Connect with Ibrahim

    Professor Jasmin Godbold

    Professor

    Research interests

    • Changes in seafloor biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
    • Effect of human activities and environmental change on species-environment interactions 
    • Trait-expression in benthic invertebrates

    Accepting applications from PhD students

    Connect with Jasmin

    Professor Joerg Fliege

    Professor of Operational Research

    Research interests

    • Nonlinear Optimization
    • Discrete Optimization
    • Operational Research

    Accepting applications from PhD students

    Connect with Joerg

    Dr Jonathan Williams FIMarEST

    Connect with Jonathan

    Email: jonathan.williams@soton.ac.uk

    Tel: +442380111595

    Address: Boldrewood Campus, Burgess Road, SO16 7QF

    Dr Katherine Kwa BEng, PhD

    Senior Research Fellow

    Accepting applications from PhD students

    Connect with Katherine

    Dr Lindsay-Marie Armstrong

    Associate Professor
    Connect with Lindsay-Marie

    Dr Luke Myers PhD

    Associate Professor

    Research interests

    • Tidal turbines
    • Micro -renewables
    • Experimental testing and field work

    Accepting applications from PhD students

    Connect with Luke

    Professor Martin Solan

    Professor of Marine Ecology

    Research interests

    • Biodiversity ecosystem function bioturbation benthic ecology

    Accepting applications from PhD students

    Connect with Martin

    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.