Report of the Workshop on Wave and Tidal Energy Test Sites (WKWTETS)

The ICES Workshop on Wave and Tidal Energy Test Sites (WKWTETS) was held in Orkney, Scotland, on 3 May 2012, as part of the EIMR International Conference on The Environmental Interactions of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies. Presenta-tions at the workshop described environmental, socio-economic, impact assessment and regulatory issues relevant to the development of the wave and tidal energy sec-tor worldwide, particularly in relation to application of research at sites where ma-rine hydrokinetic energy extraction devices are being tested. Workshop delegates completed a questionnaire addressing three Terms of Reference for the workshop: (a) collating information on wave and tidal energy test sites worldwide, identifying how these are being used to generate research findings relevant to environmental interac-tions applicable to full-scale commercial developments; (b) describing ongoing ma-rine environmental research at test sites; and (c) identifying priorities for applying the findings of research and monitoring activities at test sites to full-scale commercial deployments, and identifying the research gaps that are most urgent to address at test sites.