Policy & Innovation Group report reveals latest wave & tidal stream forecasts

In collaboration with Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Hub ORE Hub, the Policy and Innovation Group has released their latest report “Delivering Net Zero: Forecasting Wave and tidal Stream Deployment in UK Waters by 2050”.

This new study has forecasted the potential deployment of wave and tidal stream energy devices in UK waters by 2050, outlining how the ocean energy sector can meaningfully contribute towards national Net Zero targets.

Our key results can be summarised as follows:

• Achieving cost reduction targets of €150/MWh for wave and €100/MWh for tidal stream by 2030 will result in the successful commercial deployment of wave and tidal stream devices by the mid-2030s;
• Our forecasted 2050 UK energy mix will involve the deployment of 6GW of wave and 6GW of tidal stream by 2050.

With increasing levels of acknowledgement from national government and policy-makers regarding the role that the tidal stream sector can play in supporting the Net Zero energy transition, this report provides robust analysis to underline these expectations. This report also provides a similar boost to the wave energy sector, where despite the acceptance that it currently lags the tidal stream sector by about 5 years in terms of technological maturity, there is still an evidence-based ambition to achieve similar levels of commercial deployment by 2050.

This work has been further reinforced by Wave Energy Scotland’s recent report “Wave and Floating Wind Energy: Opportunities for Sharing Infrastructure, Services and Supply Chain”. Underpinned by comprehensive scenario analysis, this report concludes that through high levels of project sharing of aspects including supply chain, physical siting infrastructure (such as device platforms) and shared O&M, wave energy developers could benefit from cost reductions of up to 40%. The report also shows that the majority of the savings can be achieved without the (probably) unpalatable risks of hybrid wind-wave platforms.     

Download report here.