Jason Hayman, CEO of Sustainable Marine Energy, has received this year’s Vi Maris Award.

The prestigious industry award was presented to Hayman during the annual Ocean Energy Europe Conference & Exhibition, being held online. Vi Maris, meaning ‘the power of the sea’, is an industry award established by Ocean Energy Europe, which recognizes the outstanding contribution of an individual to the ocean energy sector.

Jason Hayman was nominated for over a decade of tireless work for the ocean energy sector. At the helm of Sustainable Marine Energy since 2009, Jason has navigated both the Plat-O and Plat-I floating tidal devices through their demonstration phases, and is now gearing up to install one of the world’s foremost tidal energy projects in Canada.

The Pempa’q In-stream Tidal Energy Project is a multi-device array to be deployed in the Bay of Fundy, home to the world’s highest tides. The project recently secured €18.4 million in funding from the Canadian government and is destined to provide up to 9MW of clean, predictable tidal energy into the grid.

With a lifetime passion for the sea, Jason has worked on boats around the world, from racing charters to ferries, and has been a part of the maritime sector since 1996. He has successfully developed and demonstrated several engineering solutions for performing complex tasks in challenging marine environments and has a wealth of operational experience. In 2010, he successfully delivered a tidal turbine installation system for Voith Hydro’s first-generation tidal turbine in Korea.

A shortlist of five nominees was considered by a panel of Ocean Energy Europe board members, who voted by secret ballot for the winner. The other nominees recognised for their valuable work in the sector were Mario Iglesias Casal (Magallanes Renovables), Audrie Jourdan (formerly GEPS Techno), Tim Cornelius (SIMEC Atlantis Energy) and Tony Lewis (OceanEnergy).

“It is an unexpected honor to be the recipient of the Vi Maris award this year. Developing ocean energy technologies is not for the faint of heart, and requires persistence, but more importantly it is a team sport. Sustainable Marine has managed to achieve so much because we have a great team. We have also received a huge amount of support from our investors and other stakeholders; including Ocean Energy Europe who have done a tremendous job of bringing the industry together online to celebrate the many successes that the sector has delivered in 2020 despite the turbulent times.”

Jason Hayman.