asked the Secretary of State for Energy how much research into wave power is taking place in or near Southampton.

The Cockerell raft, which is one of the four leading devices in the national programme, is being developed by Wave Power Limited, a Southampton-based company. Its work is being undertaken in the test tanks of the British Hovercraft Corporation on the Isle of Wight and also in open water in the Solent. The Central Electricity Generating Board is closely associated with the national programme and practical and theoretical work is being undertaken at the Board's engineering laboratories at Marchwood.