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Produced by Innovate UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the “Cost Reduction Pathway of Tidal Stream Energy in the UK and France” report documents the global state of the tidal market and presents a cost reduction trajectory that could take it from the current price of £260/MWh down to £78/MWh by 2035.
The report also shows an “effective way to track progress over the next 15 years,” said Simon Cheeseman, sector lead for wave and tidal energy at ORE Catapult.
“It allows technology providers, policymakers, and investors to see how the industry has evolved, and how tidal stream can make a significant contribution to energy security in the future. The sector has never been stronger and the roll out of tidal stream energy is a huge opportunity we must capitalise on.”
The report found that drivers for cost reduction include scaling up the size and power of tidal devices, and the development of larger farms. Moving to piled foundations and anchors for fixed bottom and floating devices respectively could also deliver cost savings.
Longer term, the report estimated that a levelized cost of energy of £60/MWh could be reached by 2042 and £50/MWh by 2047.
Other economic benefits were also highlighted in recent studies by the University of Edinburgh and University of Manchester. Tidal stream projects use over 80% of materials from the local supply chain and create up to 45 jobs per MW deployed, more than the wind and solar industries. Overall, they could contribute up to £17bn to the UK economy by 2050. The UK could also capture 25% of the international market value through export, the report found.
The report suggests that 877MW of tidal stream energy could be deployed in the UK by 2035, aiding the Marine Energy Council’s request for the government to commit to 1GW of marine energy deployment by 2035.
Tidal stream energy could “dramatically” improve domestic energy security, the report found, and reduce costs in the future energy system due to its predictable nature. An increasing emphasis on domestic energy security could present an opportunity for the energy source to build capacity as a reliable and predictable option.
“The UK remains the most attractive global market for tidal stream energy, with over 10 GW potential,” said Caroline Lourie, technical manager at the European Marine Energy Centre (Emec).
“In 2021, £20m a year was ringfenced for the sector through the UK government’s contracts for difference scheme – an important endorsement of the industry.
“However, to drive down costs so that tidal energy is competitive with other renewables, a huge ramp up of installed capacity will be needed over the next decade. For this to happen, we need long term policy support and continued ringfenced funding.”
The report calls on policymakers in the UK and France to: support the cost reduction trajectory by committing to industry deployment targets; ensure tidal stream energy has a secure route to market, such as ringfenced funding in the contracts for difference rounds; and streamline the consenting process to strengthen the project pipeline.
“These three actions will improve private sector confidence, open new tidal stream energy funding streams, and accelerate the cost reduction process,” an announcement said.
The report will be launched at ICOE tomorrow (18 October). The work was carried out as part of the Interreg FCE funded Tiger project.
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