52 Renewable Energy While the off shore wind market has
taken off in the past few years, other renewable technologies are being developed underwater. The race for domination is well underway. The UK is judged by analysts to be as much as fi ve to 10 years ahead of international competition, with 3.4MW of installed marine energy – 1.3MW wave and 2.1MW tidal. It is also leading in research and development and has several test
of having settled for one technology concept, the three-blade turbine. There are currently a huge number of devices on the market, causing investors to wonder which will be the winner. Oliver Wragg, wave and tidal
development manager at trade body Renewable UK, says lessons should be learned from the UK’s failure to capitalize on its lead in the wind industry in the early 1980s, when extensive R&D was not followed up
“A lot of the companies that have done work in the sector are fairly agile, they can take advantage of whichever government is
providing the most support” OLIVER WRAGG, DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT RENEWABLE UK
facilities and centres of academic excellence, such as the European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland. The majority of the industry’s leading companies are either based in the UK or are using these facilities.
Denmark’s lead Whether the UK emulates Denmark in the late 1970s and becomes the international leader in the design, manufacture, installation and export of wave and tidal technologies will depend on government support in the commercialization phase. The large number of companies
with investment in commercialization, letting the Danes snatch the lead.
The UK’s installed marine energy capacity, putting it
3.4MW
The potential tidal market France, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Finland between them have a target to deploy 1.95GW of wave and tidal energy by 2020. The US is developing a long- term support
package for marine
5 to 10 years ahead of the competition
energy, and Canada and Korea are in the advanced stages of developing full-scale test sites. “A lot of the companies that have done work in the sector are fairly agile, they can take advantage of whichever government is providing the most support,” Wragg says. “There’s a threat someone else may come along and take all the good work the UK has done.” João Cruz, head of wave and tidal
at renewable energy consultancy GL Garrad Hassan, says the burgeoning wave and tidal sector needs long-term investors, due to the expense and the sector’s stage of development: “The sector needs institutional investors rather than those seeking returns from commercial sales of a technology that isn’t really ready yet.” Ten utilities have committed funds to
the sector, either via direct investment in device developers or pre-commercial projects. Over the past 18 months, several large manufacturers have acquired substantial equity investment in marine energy technology, including Rolls-Royce, which acquired Tidal Generation. These investments show the industry
has reached a crucial stage, Wragg says. “There’s been a huge shift in the way people are thinking. We’re on the cusp of commercialization.” ||||
reliant on public subsidy at a time of spending cuts could be tricky, believes Frank Wright, renewables manager at energy analysts Douglas Westwood. “The UK is probably one of the only places where you have funding for all levels, from prototype through to demonstration, but it’s not enough to support all the companies.” Wright points out manufacturers
of wave and tidal technology do not have the benefi t the wind industry had at the same stage of its development;
CREATING CLIMATE WEALTH
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