One of the world's leading subsea engineering companies has been appointed to manage the design, procurement and construction of the Wave Hub renewable energy project off the coast of South West England.

The South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) has selected J P Kenny, part of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC, as its engineering and management contractor for the project.

The RDA is leading the development of Wave Hub, which will create the world's largest wave energy farm 10 miles off the north coast of Cornwall.

Wave Hub will be an electrical 'socket' on the seabed connected to the National Grid via a subsea cable. With a capacity of up to 20MW, it will allow the pre-commercial testing of wave energy devices on a scale not seen before.

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Four wave device developers are working with the RDA on the project, and it is anticipated that up to 30 devices could be deployed. Consents have already been obtained from the UK Government for the Wave Hub site.

J P Kenny was selected following a competitive tender process. There were 11 expressions of interest and three companies were shortlisted.

Stephen Peacock, the South West RDA's Executive Director of Enterprise and Innovation, said: "This is a great step forward for Wave Hub and puts the project back on track for deployment in 2010. We want South West England to lead the world in the development of marine renewable energy and we're delighted to have a company of J P Kenny's calibre on board."

J P Kenny has almost 30 years of subsea engineering and project management experience and an excellent track record for controlling costs and managing risk. They will manage all aspects of the design, procurement and installation of Wave Hub and the onshore works on the RDA's behalf, including the selection of sub-contractors.

(JM)