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Britain really can rule the waves

19 February 2012

RenewableUK welcomes Select Committee's call for more wave and tidal energy

  • Energy Commitee calls for more ambitious targets for growth of marine
  • Revenue certainty needed if the industry is to generate up to 68,000 jobs
  • Siemens announces further investment in UK wave and tidal sector

RenewableUK, the renewable energy trade association, has welcomed a new report by the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee which calls for an increase in the deployment of wave and tidal power.

The Committee Chairman Tim Yeo MP said "Britannia really could rule the waves when it comes to marine renewable energy".

The Committee calls for the Government to set more ambitious targets for the wave and tidal sector, and to provide greater revenue certainty, in order to maximise the likelihood of the UK benefitting from a lucrative export market in clean energy technology. RenewableUK's research has revealed that by 2020 the industry could have a value of up to £3.7 billion.

RenewableUK's Director of Policy, Dr Gordon Edge, said:

"The marine energy industry is now on the threshold of commercial viability, and the Committee's report contains important recommendations which, if implemented, will help push it towards becoming a major part of our electricity generation system. In particular, we welcome the Committee's recognition that any failure to help the industry live up to its promise could lead to other countries stealing the UK's current global lead. We can't afford to have innovation and manufacturing in hi-tech industries go overseas".

Government proposals for revenue support for wave and tidal power do not yet extend beyond 2017, leaving a question mark over the industry's future.

"Certainty is the watchword for securing the investment marine energy will require to become a major power source. We don't yet have that certainty, and the Committee's call for long-term clarity on Government support for marine energy is timely," concluded Dr Edge.

His comments follow the announcement on Friday that Siemens has strengthened its commitment to UK's wave and tidal sector by acquiring a majority stake in the Bristol-based company Marine Current Turbines, which develops and builds tidal power systems. Siemens described the move as an important step forward in the commercialisation of a promising technology.

-ENDS-

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Notes:

  1. RenewableUK is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries. Formed in 1978, and with more than 660 corporate members, RenewableUK is the leading renewable energy trade association in the UK. Wind has been the world's fastest growing renewable energy source for the last seven years, and this trend is expected to continue with falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions to prevent climate change.

  2. The full list of recommendations made by the Committee can be found on its website at www.parliament.uk/ecc

  3. RenewableUK's research on the future prospects for wave & tidal power can be found in our 'Channelling The Energy' report available here