Hurst is currently head of offshore industry development at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), to which Wave Energy Scotland is subsidiary.
HIE chief executive Alex Paterson said he was “confident” that Hurst has “the ambition and the energy” to lead Wave Energy Scotland at a “hugely challenging time in the sector”.
Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing said the appointment is an “important milestone” in the further development of Wave Energy Scotland.
“In Scotland we have great natural marine resources, backed up with considerable expertise across industry, academia and public sector partners,” he added. “The year ahead will be challenging and we have high expectations for the five calls which Wave Energy Scotland will launch this year.”
Hurst joined HIE in 2013. He was the lead contact on a pan-Scottish group of agencies to plan and develop next-generation test and demonstration facilities for the offshore renewable sector, with a particular focus on offshore wind.
He said: “There are always significant challenges in the development of new technology and the wave energy sector is no different. What Wave Energy Scotland seeks to do is to learn lessons from the sector to date, but also to draw on the experience from a range of other industries which will help us produce engineering solutions for the cost effective and reliable generation of wave energy.
“Our aim, ultimately, is to create the conditions which will allow the private investors to re- enter the sector and take it through to commercialisation.
“Where I don’t underestimate the complexities of developing the right sort of technology for the wave energy sector, I am confident the Wave Energy Scotland approach presents the best opportunity to produce results.”
Wave Energy Scotland was set up in December 2014 with the aim of accelerating the development of wave technology. The group is fully funded by the Scottish government, with a budget of £14.3 million until the end of the financial year in 2016.
This year, the group will issue a series of five calls for interested parties, who will be able to apply for funding for wave technology development projects. The first call was made in March for secondary energy conversion technologies, with a contract due to be awarded by the end of June.