MSc Renewable Energy and Clean Technology

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £38,400

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We offer a number of postgraduate taught scholarships and awards to outstanding UK and international students each year.

The University of Manchester is committed to widening participation in master's study, and allocates £300,000 in funding each year. Our Manchester Master's Bursaries are aimed at widening access to master's courses by removing barriers to postgraduate education for students from underrepresented groups.

We also welcome the best and brightest international students each year and reward excellence with a number of merit-based scholarships. See our range of master’s scholarships for international students .

And, if you have completed an undergraduate degree at The University of Manchester, or are currently in your final year of an undergraduate degree with us, you may be eligible for a discount of 10% on tuition fees if you choose to study on a taught postgraduate course here. Find out if you're eligible and how to apply .

For more information on master's tuition fees and studying costs, visit the University of Manchester funding for master's courses website to help you plan your finances.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIT

This unit will cover: An introduction to wind turbines, tidal systems and wave energy systems, economic assessment methods applicable to offshore renewables and emerging technologies, wind energy resource, momentum theory and limits to wind power output (Betz limit), blade element momentum theory, tidal stream resource & conversion of flow to mechanical power, wave energy resource description, wave energy devices and wave energy device simulation.

Two supervised computational laboratory exercises will be undertaken. The first will use an industry standard wind-turbine design software to compute power output of a given turbine design. The second will look at the effects of blockage on a tidal stream turbine array. Both computational exercises will build on the material in the lecture series by solving the system of equations that are derived in class.

The unit aims to: Provide an introduction to renewable technologies, with particular focus on the design of wind-turbines, tidal stream devices and wave devices. This will include both the design of these three types of renewable energy device and to model the conversion of environmental flows to mechanical power.

On successful completion of the course, a student will be able to:

ILO 1: Develop models of the underlying natural resources such as wind, tide and waves including statistical and time-series techniques.

ILO 2: Compare and contrast systems for energy extraction from renewable sources, identifying the advantages and disadvantages of each.

ILO 3: Employ physical principles to derive mathematical models of energy extraction systems appropriate for the wind, tidal stream, and wave energy resources.

ILO 4: Apply these mathematical models to relevant calculations (both hand calculations and those using industry standard software) to establish loading and power supply

ILO 5: Identify environmental impacts (both positive and negative).

ILO 6: Explain and contrast alternative  methods for regulation of  power output.

Brief description of the Learning and Teaching process 

Coursework

• Course Work 1 – Written/hand calculations and analysis of data obtained using QBlade software. The assessed tutorial work will be 3 hours in total. The assessed tutorial work forms 15% of the overall unit assessment
• Course Work 2 - technical report based on analysis of device performance and proposing a design for a marine energy farm considering energy yield, economic issues and other factors. Laboratory written report forms 15% of the overall unit assessment

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