Marine energy: UK at forefront of global developments

According to the Carbon Trust, global business opportunities for the wave and tidal energy sector are estimated to be worth a minimum of £600 billion in the future and it is predicted that the UK could secure at least half of this. With world-leading innovations and grid-connected prototypes, the UK is currently benefiting from powerful assistance from government funding, legislation and programmes at what is recognised as a critical stage of its development.

With the largest wave resource in Europe and the most favourable conditions for tidal power generation on earth, the UK was always going to be a leading player in the research and development of marine energy technology. Leveraging expertise from its shipbuilding and oil and gas heritage can help the UK to realise the potential of wave and tidal energy to supply up to 20% of current electricity demand.

Success factors
This confidence owes much to consistent support from UK Government. The Marine Renewables Deployment Fund gave this emerging sector a £50 million boost to help visionary businesses take first-class technologies to market and in Scotland a further £8 million has been made available for innovative projects.

Through its Marine Energy Accelerator, the Carbon Trust is providing £3.5 million and the EPSRC-funded four-year SuperGen Marine Energy Research Consortium has £2.6 million to tackle major marine energy challenges. Professor Robin Wallace of Edinburgh University, which is leading this very successful venture, states that their research has advanced vital issues such as the quantification and characterisation of wave and tidal resources, system performance optimisation, electricity network integration and chemical conversion and storage. The second phase of this research is funded for another four years until September 2011 and includes Consortium partners from Edinburgh, Belfast, Heriot-Watt, Lancaster and Strathclyde universities.

John Buckley, of the RETPS, says, 'It is not just funding that is proving attractive to foreign investors. There are many other factors which together provide best practice for developing technologies.' Among these are world-class facilities for fast-tracking concept evaluation, feasibility studies and testing such as Northumberland's Centre of Excellence for New and Renewable Energy (NaREC) and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.

World-class facilities and research at universities such as Southampton and Imperial College are playing their part too. The Sustainable Energy Research Group within Southampton's 5*-rated engineering department is, for example, engaged in tidal and ocean research encompassing the hydrodynamics of tidal turbines, analysis of resources and the testing of wave energy devices. Some of its top researchers are also closely involved with innovative companies based at the university such as C-Wave. The company is currently carrying out optimisation studies of a novel low-cost wave energy system which, claims Chief Executive Giles Edward, 'Will be able to deliver renewable electricity at prices competitive with traditional technologies.'

Projects such as Wave Hub, an electrical 'socket' 10 miles offshore to which arrays of wave energy converters can be connected, are also supporting the sector's development. 'We already have three device developers who want to occupy space for our 2008 launch,' says Nick Harrington of the South West of England Regional Development Agency. 'These are Ocean Power Technologies, Norwegian firm Fred Olsen and WestWave, a joint venture between E.ON and Ocean Prospect using the Pelamis technology of Ocean Power Delivery.'

Worldwide demand
With pragmatic support such as this, the global success of the UK's 100-strong group of marine energy companies is not surprising. French-owned EDF Energy has invested in Marine Current Turbine's 1 MW SeaGen demonstration device which, says MCT's Peter Fraenkel, 'Will be installed off the Northern Irish coast as soon as possible.' Portugal utility Enersis has selected Ocean Power Delivery's floating wave energy converter Pelamis for the world's first commercial wave farm. Denmark's Wave Dragon developers chose Wales as the location and KP Renewables as the partner for a major deep sea wave energy generating project.

New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea are among other countries interested in UK capabilities and facilities; it is his job, says John Buckley, 'To make sure that they have the information they need and that UK companies understand the nature of these opportunities.' In recent months, events such as a two-day French Marine Workshop in Le Havre and workshops in South Korea and Taiwan have enabled over 50 UK companies to showcase their credentials and establish valuable contacts. Interest in the UK's marine energy industry and capability was highlighted at a marine energy seminar in Bilbao on 25 January. The seminar, organised by the Basque Energy Board (EVE), involved a number of speakers from UK industry including WaveGen, Ocean Power Delivery and EMEC as well as John Spurgeon from DTI who spoke on UK Government policy with regard to marine energy, its development and promotion.

To find out more about this and other opportunities please contact the RETPS team on +44 (0)1664 565083 or enquiries@ukrenewables.com

For information on recent RETPS events visit www.ukrenewables.com/recentevents.htm

Information on the Government's Marine Renewables Deployment Fund can be found at:
www.dti.gov.uk/

EMEC www.emec.org.uk
NaRec www.narec.co.uk
SuperGen www.supergen.co.uk
Southampton University: www.energy.soton.ac.uk/
South West Regional Development Agency www.southwestrda.org.uk/.../wave-hub/index.shtm
Ocean Power Delivery www.oceanpd.com
Marine Current Turbines www.marineturbines.com
KP Renewables www.kprenewables.com
C-Wave www.cwavepower.com
Wave Hub www.wavehub.co.uk