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

Professor Tim Henstock

Professor of Geophysics

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Tim

Professor Tim Minshull

Professor in Ocean & Earth Science

Research interests

  • Continental breakup and the onset of seafloor spreading
  • Methane hydrate beneath the seafloor and its role in the Earth system
  • Exploration geophysics: seismic and electromagnetic imaging

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Tim

Professor Toby Tyrrell

Professor of Earth System Science

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Tom Bibby

Professor of Biological Oceanography

Research interests

  • (1) The role of photosynthetic microbes in global biogeochemical cycles(2) The use of photosynthetic microbes for sustainable products

Accepting applications from PhD students

Connect with Tom

Professor Tom Ezard

Associate Dean Education

Research interests

  • The bridge from micro- to macroevolution.
  • Scaling ecological dynamics across individuals, populations and ecosystems.
  • Demography for conservation and life history evolution.

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Toni Martinez Sykora

Professor

Research interests

  • Optimisation and Combinatorial Optimisation 
  • Cutting and packing problems
  • Transportation and vehicle routing problems

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Professor Tony Kushner

James Parkes Professor of History

Research interests

  • Jewish migration history
  • Refugee studies
  • Representation and memory of the Holocaust
Connect with Tony

Dr Vicky Dominguez Almela

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Her work has included the use of individual-based models (IBMs), geographical information systems (GIS) and stable isotopes to increase understandings of invasion patterns and evaluate invasive species eradication programmes. She also uses citizen science tools to co-produce knowledge with the general public and increase adaptation pathways to climatic risks.
  • Champion of the Nature-Based Solutions Special Interest Group at the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.
  • Postgrad Rep and Social Media Lead of the British Ecological Society Invasion Science Group.

Accepting applications from PhD students

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Emeritus Professor Victor Humphrey

Research interests

  • Professor Humphrey has particular research interests in the areas of medical ultrasound and underwater acoustics. Common themes running through his research include the understanding and application of non-linear acoustics and the laboratory measurement of physical acoustic phenomena including scattering. His main research interests include: · Nonlinear propagation, streaming and imaging in medical ultrasonics; · Ultrasonic heating and propagation in biological media; · Parametric arrays and their application to acoustic measurements in the laboratory; · Acoustic transmission and reflection properties of isotropic and anisotropic materials; · Scattering from objects and methods of measuring and predicting the scattered field for regular and irregular bodies; · Numerical modelling of transducers and fields.
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Dr Wassim Dbouk

Research Fellow

Research interests

  • I am currently involved in a multi-disciplinary research project as part of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC - https://www.linkedin.com/company/idricuk/), where I am researching the legal and regulatory aspects of the transport of CO2 to support the implementation of the UK Government's Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) plans.
  • My wider research interests include the policy aspects influencing the governance and sustainable management of our oceans and the simultaneous implementation of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their respective targets.
Connect with Wassim

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.