SuNRISE Coast

UEA, Cefas, ORE Catapult and EEEGR have come together in a vision that aims to  enhance East Anglia’s growing reputation as a clean energy powerhouse for the UK and drive the sustainable development of the Southern North Sea and Anglian coast.

The programme - Suffolk and Norfolk Research and Innovation on the Sustainable Energy Coast, or ‘SuNRISE Coast’ for short, will enable partners and other organisations to collaborate to develop ideas and opportunities that will lead to investment in innovation-led sustainable regional growth. The vision builds on established world-leading research strengths based in the region and on industry collaborations to generate economic impact and high-value jobs.

The programme will address important issues of environmental sustainability and diversity and explore new opportunities for improving the health of the Southern North Sea (SNS). The SuNRISE Coast vision is designed to address key industry, business and environmental challenges, enabling research and development of novel solutions and generating commercial opportunity to drive clean growth in the region. 

There are three interlinked themes to the programme, listed below, which build on the strengths of the partners and will involve input from a wide variety of organisations throughout the region. You can read more about the SuNRISE Coast vision in our brochure.

 

Read our SuNRISE Coast Brochure

UEA have recently commissioned a piece of work to refresh the SuNRISE Coast vision in line with the latest industry and policy developments, and to identify a practical model for taking forward the work captured within the vision. We are working with Opergy Ltd to deliver the work.

We are keen to talk to stakeholders to gain insights and ideas of the critical challenges and opportunities that will be best solved through collaborative research & innovation.

Please contact us on sunrise.coast@uea.ac.uk or follow us and interact via X (formerly known as Twitter) @SuNRISECoastSNS

Digital Energy Coast

Integration across the Southern North Sea and its coast:

  • significantly enhance data acquisition and analytics, mapping existing sensor networks, observation and monitoring devices ad aggregating datasets to create an 'SNS Data Observatory' combining met-ocean, wind/wave/weather, bird/fish mammal, air/water quality data. 

  • Improve access to data and work with researchers to inform future modelling, forecasting, development applications and improved logistics and supply chain operations.

  • Pioneer development of ‘e-Lighthouses’ to support auto-navigation of autonomous drones (terrestrial, aerial, and subsea) working in the SNS.

  • Work closely with the UEA Smart Emerging Technologies Institute (SETI) initiative for the most up-to-date connectivity in the region. 

Marine Biodiversity Net Gain

Sustainable multi-use of the Southern North Sea

 

  • Enhancing our understanding of the current and future relationships between energy and marine biodiversity and ecology, and coastal processes, allowing for co-ordinated environmental risk management. 

  • New sustainable business opportunities in ‘aqua-tech’, will create new jobs delivering new and integrated seafood production options.

With industry we will develop and pilot new multi-use scenarios such as:

  • - the application of seaweed, seagrass, and shellfish farming with offshore wind

  • - innovative approaches to coastal resilience

  • - enable options for greater ‘co-existence’, and opportunities to use ‘bio-fouling’ as a part of the natural food chain

  • - explore the potential benefits of artificial reefs for marine protection to create safe ‘biodiversity havens’ and ‘fish nurseries’.

Future Clean Energy Tech

Catalysing future sustainable energy technologies and infrastructure

  • Developing novel energy solutions for East Anglia and its coast, leveraging wider offshore renewable energy and low carbon innovation relevant to local industry needs. Driving the energy transition through an integrated approach to the Southern North Sea

Priorities include greater alignment and a ‘whole systems’ approach to infrastructure, including:

  • - Coastal grid network(s) for connectivity and energy storage (batteries/hydrogen), enabling testing and demonstration of new technologies e.g. next generation offshore wind components or operations, gas2wire, floating solar, or embedding circular economy through recommissioning of redundant assets (e.g. pipelines)

  • - Seawater desalination, and hydrogen production offering significant potential for large scale wind, existing natural gas subsea infrastructure, and new nuclear to combine for sustainable energy production delivering power, heat, and clean water.

  • Use the opportunities arising from the UEA Productivity East Hub.