Guy Lavender has been appointed as General Manager for the Wave Hub project.

The South West RDA announced Mr Lavender will take charge of the £42 million wave energy project in January. Wave Hub will create the world's largest test site for devices that generate electricity from the sea.

A former Army Lieutenant Colonel who served in the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, Guy holds two Masters degrees, one in defence technology and another in business administration.

Stephen Peacock, Executive Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the RDA, said: "I am very pleased to be able to appoint Guy. We wanted to test the market for the most talented individuals available to take on this challenging role, and Guy’s experience in delivering complex technical projects, and in providing exceptional leadership and stakeholder management was a perfect match."

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Guy – who currently works at the RDA as Director for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – said: "This is a dream job for me. The RDA has a strong commitment to developing a low carbon economy for the region and Wave Hub is a high-profile element of this. I am looking forward to working with partners, suppliers and local people to ensure the project continues its momentum and helps create a world-class marine energy industry here in the South West."

From January Guy will join the Wave Hub delivery team as the remaining installation contracts are awarded and construction begins, and he will then be responsible for leading the safe and efficient operation of Wave Hub.

One of his first tasks will be to firm up the structure of the operations team and recruit additional specialist staff. He will also be setting up a Wave Hub office in Hayle.

Wave Hub is funded with £12.5 million from the South West RDA, £20 million from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme and £9.5 million from the UK government.

(CD/BMcC)