Marine Renewable Energy Heriot-Watt University

Overview

The programme is suitable for those from a wide variety of academic backgrounds who want to work in the marine renewable energy industry.  

You’ll become familiar with the key drivers and limitations of marine renewable energy technologies and their associated development processes. The curriculum focuses on three themes of environment, technology, and governance.  

You’ll understand the marine environment, sources of energy, and consider potential environmental effects of marine energy development.  

You’ll gain an awareness of the fundamental technology options for generating new marine renewable energy platforms and their limitations, including issues surrounding the storage of energy and the integration of marine energy into wider energy systems.  

You’ll also explore the relevant policy, legislation and planning approaches, and understand the nature of energy markets and the economic instruments used to promote marine renewable energy through using financial appraisal tools for individual developments. 

This career-focused master’s programme will develop your technical, scientific, and managerial abilities, and provide you with a specialist education to set you up to become a professional in a range of roles within marine renewable energy.  

Your Student Experience

Our Expertise

 Your learning will be informed by experts in renewable energy, environmental and social science, and transition engineering at the International Centre for Islands Technology (ICIT) in Stromness, Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney campus, which is part of Heriot-Watt’s School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society.  

Your learning will be further enhanced by proximity to the Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ) and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). Collectively, current ground-breaking research is helping to navigate current challenges, and making progress in the development and delivery of new renewable and sustainable energy supply and end-use systems. 

Heriot-Watt Orkney is one of the United Kingdom’s most stunning and unique university locations. Set in the picturesque harbour of Hamnavoe and Scapa Flow, for over 25 years the campus has supported a broad range of research, teaching, and consultancy activities within the marine, oil and gas, and fisheries sectors. 

The research relevance of this postgraduate programme ensures your studies remain innovative and industry focused. 

Your Learning Environment

 The MSc Marine Renewable Energy programme is taught though a combination of lectures, tutorials, laboratory practicals and field work, allowing you to get to know and build relationships with your teaching staff, academics, and peers. You will be assessed by coursework, exams, and your dissertation, and will receive support and feedback throughout the programme.  

During your studies, you’ll benefit from relatively small class sizes and have access to our specialist equipment, software and laboratories. You will have the opportunity to work on real-world problems, and work across disciplines to deliver practical solutions with global impact.  

Outside of the classroom, you’ll benefit from living in a a friendly island environment and experience landscapes of remarkable beauty. Orkney offers a large range of sports and leisure activities, and you’ll find there is lots to enjoy and explore.  

Customise Your Learning

 You will study the programme full-time for 12 months in Orkney. You’ll take two mandatory courses that will provide you with current knowledge in marine renewable energy technologies and commercialisation. You can customise your learning to match your specific interests or desired career pathway by choosing six optional courses from a range of over ten environmental, marine, and energy transition specialist courses, including marine planning, environmental processes, oceanography, and transition engineering.  

In semester three, you’ll undertake an extensive and specialised investigation into your chosen area of interest in marine renewable energy through your dissertation. You’ll be required to demonstrate your mastery of the subject area by researching, investigating, and reporting on a specialist topic, and you’ll be required to do this within the time and resources available.   

You’ll have the opportunity to go on a two-week field trip to Malaysia through the optional Tropical and Coral Reefs: Monitoring and Management course. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the marine environment whilst learning different techniques for surveying and monitoring coral reefs.  

Employability

Marine planning, including spatial planning, is a fast-developing discipline of global interest with excellent employment prospects. It has the ambition to promote sustainable development of the Blue Economy and mitigate the effects of climate change. The international "Blue Growth Agenda" anticipates increasing economic activity and employment from maritime industries as diverse as offshore oil and gas, renewable energy, aquaculture, biotechnologies, artificial islands, deep sea mining and tourism. The increase in activity requires increased vigilance in marine protection and conservation.

Average Salary: £34,920

Potential career paths:

• Marine development companies
• Utilities
• Consultancies
• Governments
• Regulators
• NGOs