Marine energy takes major step forward with awards for 1.2GW of leases

Peta Hodge

16th March 2010

A day after the Government launched its Marine Energy Action Plan, setting out a roadmap for driving the marine energy sector forward, the Crown Estate has announced an unprecedented 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of wave and tidal energy project leases.

The leases awarded by the Crown Estate have gone to a number of utilities and advanced technology developers and kick-start the development of six wave energy projects with a total capacity of 600 megawatts (MW) and four tidal energy projects amounting to 600MW.

Oliver Wragg, wave and tidal development manager for RenewableUK (formerly the British Wind energy Association) said: “The leasing round has exceeded all expectations by awarding 1.2GW of project leases, considerably up from the originally scheduled 700MW.

“This clearly demonstrates that the industry has now reached a stage where it is ready to deliver.”

Marine Current Turbine wins lease for SeaGen

One of the leases awarded by the Crown Estate has gone to Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT), which has been given the go-ahead to deploy its SeaGen tidal current technology off Brough Ness, on the southernmost tip of the Orkney Islands.

MCT is planning, subject to consents, to install 66 SeaGen tidal turbines in three phases over a four year period beginning in 2017. The Brough Ness tidal array will have a total generating capacity of 99MW – enough power for nearly 100,000 homes.

Martin Wright, managing director of MCT, which already operates SeaGen in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough, said: “The Pentland Firth and Orkney waters are strategically the most important marine energy areas in Western Europe so we are delighted to have secured approval for a lease by The Crown Estate.”

The Edinburgh-based developers of the Pelamis wave energy converter were also winners in this round of Crown Estate awards.

Pelamis given the go-ahead for wave farm

Pelamis Wave Power Ltd (PWP) has been given the go-ahead to develop and deliver a wave farm with a capacity of up to 50MW – sufficient to meet the electricity needs of some 25,000 homes – offshore from Bettyhill in Sutherland. PWP identified the site in 2008, when the company secured a grid connection.

PWP project development manager Andrew Scott welcomed the outcome of the leasing round as “terrific news”.

“The agreement with The Crown Estate, along with a grid connection, has significantly de-risked this project opportunity, and we look forward to bringing this project through consents to a position where it can be built and start exporting wave power to the UK grid," he said.

Marine Energy Action Plan sets out vision and actions that need to be taken

Launching the Government’s Marine Energy Action Plan at the home of the 1.2MW SeaGen turbine at Strangford Lough yesterday, Minister of State for Energy, Lord Hunt said: “Harnessing the power of our seas will help us reduce our carbon emissions, provide clean, green, secure and reliable energy, create jobs and provide export opportunities.”

The Government’s Plan, which has been developed jointly with industry, sets out a vision for what marine energy can do for the UK – like providing power for 15 million homes and saving 70 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050 – and what actions need to be taken to achieve this.

Key recommendations include forming a UK-wide strategic co-ordination group to develop a planning and consenting roadmap for all types of marine renewables, and the establishment of guidelines and best practice in the development of new technologies.

The plan also proposes that consideration should be given this autumn to the support levels given to this sector under the Renewables Obligation.

Funding, of course, is always an issue and the marine energy plan calls for the appropriate levels of targeted funding to be made available “to bridge the technology market failures that exist in this developing sector” – subject to the budgets in the next public spending round. It proposes leveraging private equity and project capital too.

The Government believes that the marine energy sector has the potential to provide up to 16,000 jobs, with a quarter of these in exports. Another of its key recommendations is that a UK marine energy supply chain should be developed, utilising the current skills base already established from the offshore wind, oil and gas, and maritime industries.

Speaking yesterday, Maria McCaffery, chief executive of RenewableUK described the Marine Energy Action Plan as a “significant step forward”, giving the public and private sectors the opportunity to discuss for the first time the key actions required to develop the UK marine energy industry".

RenewableUK publishes marine energy report

Today RenewableUK published its own report – ‘The Next Steps for Marine Energy Report’ – in which it calls for the Government to commit a minimum of £220 million in capital support for technology development over the next five years, with the aim of powering 1.4 million homes with marine energy by 2020, and producing an annual sector turnover of £900 million by 2030.

Peter Madigan, RenewableUK head of Offshore Renewables, said: “RenewableUK’s report demonstrates that by investing now the Government can generate jobs and income in the long term. We have a once in a generation opportunity to build a world leading industry which will help ensure we meet our carbon reduction targets and deliver economic benefits. The industry is ready and the Government must act now.”