China plans to build three marine renewable-energy trial parks by 2016, to help speed up the commercial expansion of the wave and tidal power industry. “The parks will be developed in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Zhoushan, Zhejiang province and Weihai, Shandong province, to help accelerate research and development in marine energy technologies,” said Kang Jian, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department of the State Oceanic Administration, on the eve of the World Oceans Day. Such parks generate electricity by converting the energy of waves and tides. The site in Zhuhai will be a wave park, where a 300-kilowatt wave farm and a test site will be built, while the Zhoushan site will have a tide farm with a 1 megawatt (MW) or more capacity and a test zone. The one in Weihai will be a comprehensive project for wave and tide power. Because the parks are still in the design phase, authorities did not disclose the total investment involved. Lian Lian, Researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, applauded the plan, saying the trial parks will be platforms connecting scientists and engineers with users, forming a complete chain from research and development (R&D) to testing and final application. The State Oceanic Administration’s latest marine resources survey, released in 2011, estimated that marine energy potential in the coastal areas can reach 1.6 billion kW. The 12th Five Year Plan (2011-15) on renewable energy spelled out that by 2015, the country plans to build offshore marine power farms with a total capacity of 50,000 kW, helping lay the foundation for commercial expansion, the China Daily reports.