The global marine energy market could be worth an estimated £76 billion to the UK economy by 2050, with the potential to create tens of thousands of new jobs, according to the Carbon Trust.
The not-for-profit organisation released a paper today that shows the UK could capture just under a quarter of the global
marine renewables market with the potential to create 68,000 new jobs over the next 40 years. The
Carbon Trust based its analysis on the UK’s current lead in developing
wave and
tidal technologies as well as the powerful marine resources it has at its disposal around its coastline.
The study shows UK cleantech companies have cornered around 28 per cent of the global marine
technology market and could eventually have 22 per cent of the global market.
British companies such as Pelamis, Aquamarine Power and Marine Current Turbines are already world leaders in developing wave energy and tidal stream devices. Meanwhile, almost half of Europe’s wave resources and over a quarter of its tidal energy resources are to be found off the British coastline.
Potential
This resource, the Carbon Trust says, means marine energy capacity could reach 27.5 gigawatts (GW) in the UK by 2050, enough to supply over a fifth of Britain’s current electricity demand. The Carbon Trust has previously estimated that 15 per cent of electricity in the UK could be generated from marine sources, with 2 GW by 2020 and 30 GW by 2050.
"Marine energy could be a major 'made in Britain’ success," said Benj Sykes, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust.
Challenges
However, to cement its leading position, the Carbon Trust said the UK has to invest more in the deployment of commercial scale wave and tidal arrays. While a few projects already exist and more are being developed, including an eight megawatt tidal array off the coast of Scotland, marine energy has a long way to go to catch up other
renewables such as offshore wind.
The Carbon Trust study said more needs to be spent on
research and development to bring down the cost of this early stage renewable technology and that the sector also needs to garner wider support through grid upgrades to transfer electricity to areas of demand and through the development of a manufacturing supply chain, as well as winning public support.
"By cementing our early mover advantage, the UK could develop a significant export market, generate thousands of jobs and meet our own demand for clean, home-grown electricity," said Sykes.
Study findings
The study sets out various scenarios with the most promising showing a global marine market worth around £460 billion in the period 2010-2050, with up to 240 GW of capacity capable of being deployed. It estimates wave would eventually have the lion’s share of the market (75 per cent), but full commercial deployment would not ramp up until the 2020s.
However, the paper argues marine renewables will only play a meaningful role in meeting global energy needs if costs associated with the wave and tidal technologies are significantly reduced so they can compete with other low carbon technologies, such as nuclear and carbon capture and storage.
In terms of the developing the UK marine energy export market, the report suggested countries such as Chile, Korea and America as well as European countries with Atlantic coastlines offered the best opportunities for development.
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