As global studies and new UK-led initiatives reveal, wave and tidal energy are no longer fringe technologies but key contenders in the race to net zero with the potential to generate hundreds of gigawatts of clean, predictable power and transform coastal communities worldwide.
Roadmaps helping to drive the global marine energy sector forward into the future estimate the technologies could contribute 300GW of renewable capacity by 2050, with a value of over US$340 billion. Indeed, as the Energy Industries Council (EIC) acknowledges, the wave and tidal sectors have the potential to provide a huge amount of renewable energy and could drastically aid in the goal of net zero.
In its recent Wave and Tidal insight Report, the EIC says the UK is at the forefront of testing for both wave and tidal stream projects. Of the 74 schemes the EIC tracks in its global data-base, 28 projects in the pipeline are in the UK - 22 tidal and 6 wave. All of which will contribute towards a target from the Marine Energy Council of achieving 1GW of tidal energy and 300MW of wave power by 2035.
Across Europe there are 13 projects in the pipeline, although the EU is described as lagging behind the UK in both scale and policy clarity. France and Portugal are leading the European assault, but other countries need to catch up.
