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 and Dr Luke Myers.

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

Dr Richard Knighton MChem DPhil MRSC

Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry

Research interests

  • upconversion luminescence
  • d-metals and lanthanides
  • supramolecular chemistry

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Richard

Dr Richard Stockey BA MSci PhD

Lecturer in Palaeobiology

Research interests

  • Treating the geologic record as a historical laboratory for studying the responses of marine ecosystems to environmental change
  • Earth system, ecological and biogeochemical modelling to better understand relationships between changes observed in the fossil and geochemical record
  • The importance of Earth system evolution for ecological and oceanographic responses to ancient climate change

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Richard

Professor Robert Marsh

Professor of Oceanography and Climate

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Robert

Professor Robert Raja

Prof of Materials Chemistry & Catalysis

Research interests

  • Heterogeneous Catalysis
  • Sustainable Chemistry
  • Carbon Capture Storage and Utilisation

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Robert

Dr Rodolfo Olvera PhD

Experimental Officer (Towing Tank)

Research interests

  • Experimental tests
  • Tidal energy
Connect with Rodolfo

Dr Rodrigo Ortiz Vazquez

Senior Research Fellow

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Rodrigo

Dr Rosalind Coggon

Principal Research Fellow

Research interests

  • The role of hydrothermal fluids in the formation and evolution of the ocean crust
  • Reconstructing records of past seawater chemistry
  • Global biogeochemical cycles
Connect with Rosalind

Dr Rujie Sun

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Medical Robotics (Micro/Nano Robotics, Soft Robotics)
  • Flexible Electronics
  • Wearable Devices

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Rujie

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.