MARINE CIVILS
UK MISSING OUT ON ‘MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY’ By ignoring the potential of tidal energy, the UK is missing an open goal, say stakeholders in the sector The UK government is missing out on a ‘massive opportunity’ to solve an energy crisis that is seeing electric and gas bills more than doubling across the country, say stakeholders in the tidal energy sector. The British Hydropower Association says the government has ‘all but ignored’ the potential of tidal range and run-ofriver technology in its British Energy Security Strategy, which was published on April 6. In it, investment for nuclear, wind, solar, oil and gas is announced – but tidal energy does not get a single mention. In an article first published for the Maritime Foundation and recently updated for Maritime Journal (read the full article here), Rear Admiral Rob Stevens lays out the case for tidal energy’s capacity to address energy shortages in a green, reliable and cheap way. Stevens is the chairman of Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC), a 30MW commercial tidal stream project just off the south coast of the Isle of Wight. The project, which has received all the necessary planning consents, should begin operating in 2025, generating enough electricity to power thousands of homes, he says. “The tidal streams around our coast have the potential to provide a continuous source of green energy to the UK,” he says. “The realisation of that power source would also fulfil an immediate strategic need to boost our indigenous supply of electricity as we shift away from fossil fuels in the run into Net Zero by 2050. “British tidal turbine companies such as Simec-Atlantis, Orbital Marine Power, Nova Innovation, QED Naval, HydroWing, Sustainable Marine Energy and others have between them invested over £500 million (€650 million) in developing operational tidal turbines. This investment, along with government innovation grants, sees them poised to start full commercial production with their now-proven tidal turbines, the most capable in the world.” Stevens says the engineering potential is vast, with the necessary manufacture and installation of turbines, underwater structures, moorings and power cables breathing new life into post-industrial ports. According to an OREC (Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult) study, UK tidal stream industry could generate a cumulative benefit to the UK by 2030 of £1.4bn and support a total of almost 4,000 jobs.
reductions they have eked out of their small-scale developmental deployments have added a granularity to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) study of 2018, which predicted that at-scale turbine deployments would make tidal cost competitive by 2030. The next step could place Britain at the forefront of the tidal industry, presenting an industrial opportunity similar to that of the offshore oil industry in the 1970s and wind in 2000s. “The government’s policy trumpets its determination to achieve its energy objectives by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and imported energy – and yet totally disregards the UK’s most reliable and predictable energy sources,” says the UK Hydropower Association. “Within three to seven years the seven tidal schemes currently being planned would deliver more than 10GW of generation capacity predictably and reliably – and some 10 years before any of the planned nuclear plants will be in operation. “Wind and solar energy can do much of the heavy lifting to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but the supply of energy from these sources is intermittent. What the country needs is a baseload to fill any generation gaps and it needs it soon.”
8 PTEC tidal flows - static
8 The AR500 Tidal Turbine sitting on the deck awaiting installation 2
The Danish example A good example of how such a policy could deliver for the UK is the Danish government investment in wind energy; the £690 million (€830 million) they invested in wind energy between 1980 and 2000 had by 2014 generated a turnover of £10.6 billion (€12.7 billion) with exports of £6.4 billion, and the creation of 29,000 jobs. By 2016 Denmark’s wind energy exports were higher in value than the UK’s defence industry exports. The British companies are similarly well positioned to capture a significant proportion of the global market share for tidal energy (estimated to be £76b by 2050). The cost
12 | APRIL 2022
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