RenewableUK: UK Powering On as World Leader in Wave, Tidal Energy

RenewableUK commented on the news that Carnegie Wave Energy are bringing their CETO 6 device to the South West Marine Energy Park’s Wave Hub site.

The site is an electrical hub 16km off the coast of Cornwall, and this development means all three berths for wave devices are now reserved by wave companies looking to test their technologies and deploy arrays. The total potential of the projects is 30 megawatts, which would be nearly eight times the amount of power currently being produced from wave in the UK.

RenewableUK’s Wave and Tidal Manager Dee Nunn said: “It’s great to see the berths at Wave Hub fully booked, and a credit to the Government for establishing it and taking it forward. With this and the developments in Orkney at the EMEC site and NAREC in Northumberland, the UK is powering on as the world leader in wave and tidal energy. The wave and tidal market could be worth £800 million to the UK by 2035, and every pound Government invests results in £6 coming from the private sector so backing it now really pays dividends.”

Nunn also pointed out: “To fully reap the benefits of our wonderful marine resource developers need to know there’s a long term market. The real gains from wave and tidal can be made in the 2020s, but at the moment there’s no indication of what our energy mix will look like then. We don’t want to be in the position where we develop the technology but another country benefits from the large-scale manufacturing.”

Press release, April 1, 2014; Image: Wave Hub