“It’s an exciting time for our industry, and we need to continue to work to ensure this momentum is maintained and translated into government action.”
Short Introduction about your role.
I am the UK Marine Energy Council’s Policy Director. We represent companies and organisations working to realise the UK’s 30+GW of wave and tidal energy potential, ensuring that these critical technologies have an active voice in the UK energy debate. Our membership spans technology and project developers, SMEs and companies working in the supply chain. Our job is to organise the marine energy sector to speak (where possible) with a single voice and make our asks of policymakers and politicians accessible, easy to understand and hopefully implement.
From your perspective, what are the key trends in renewable energy today?
The idea of an energy ‘trilemma’ that dominated the debate around renewable energy for much of the 2010s has completely changed in the 2020s. This was where energy cost, security and decarbonisation were seen as competing public policy goals. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted that renewable deployment is not in competition with but integral to energy security and a cost-effective energy system.
Secondly, it is no longer sufficient just to get to net zero. Governments are planning the way they get there to benefit the households, communities and businesses they represent. Energy policy is therefore expected to do more than just encourage renewable deployment but also grow local green supply chains, create jobs and onshore opportunities.
Thirdly, we are facing practical barriers that need to be addressed. These include but are not limited to, network capacity, the leasing, planning and environmental monitoring processes. These can make the time it takes to deploy renewables excessively long. Time that we do not have if we are to rise to the climate change challenge.
“CorPower Ocean’s pilot project in Portugal is an exciting step forward for the sector. It is providing a snapshot into the role that wave energy can play in our net zero future, and the build out of arrays in the next stage.”
What role can wave energy play in the UK’s future Net-Zero power system?
The UK has over 20GW of wave energy potential, that when harnessed can play a key role in the secure transition to net zero. There is a growing appreciation that energy security requires a diverse energy mix.
CorPower Ocean’s pilot project in Portugal is an exciting step forward for the sector. It is providing a snapshot into the role that wave energy can play in our net zero future, and the potential build out of arrays. The modular nature of CorPower’s device makes it easy to understand how through economies of scale and volume it can quickly come down the cost-reduction curve.
It is not only through mass deployment, but the manner in which wave will work with other renewables in the future that will secure these cost-savings. Research by OWC shows that co-locating wind and wave energy will reduce the Levelised Cost of Energy for both projects by 10-15%. Co-location ensures we are making efficient use of space and offshore network infrastructure.
Finally, there are different applications for wave energy. Other recent wave energy projects have demonstrated its ability to decarbonise offshore operations. Learnings from these projects will help the sector as a whole mature and commercialise.
It is an exciting time for the industry, and we need to continue to work to ensure this momentum is maintained and translated into government action.
“We need to convince both audiences that are new to wave energy, and those that may have made up their mind to take another look and not miss out on the significant opportunity it presents.”
Are there common misconceptions about wave energy, and what needs to be communicated to ensure attitudes and opinions are well aligned with today’s progress in the technology?
Wave energy has had several high-profile failures and could be accused of historically over-promising and under delivering. However, the sector has moved on and taking significant steps forward. There is now technology that can survive the biggest storms while efficiently generating electricity in regular ocean conditions, as demonstrated by CorPower’s pilot in Portugal. We need to convince both audiences that are new to wave energy, and those that may have made up their mind to take another look and not miss out on the significant opportunity it presents.
“There needs to be a clear and consistent route to market. We have seen the success that tidal stream has had in the UK, made possible by consecutive ringfences in its renewable auctions.”
What would be your three key tenets to improve the ocean energy environment?
I will answer this from a UK perspective. Firstly, there needs to be a clear and consistent route to market. We have seen the success that tidal stream has had in the UK, made possible by consecutive ringfences in its renewable auctions. We need to see ring-fenced CfD for wave energy in the coming auction rounds.
Secondly, getting a grid connection, securing a lease, and undertaking environmental monitoring is time consuming and expensive. I would love to see a Morlais for wave energy. This is a tidal stream site that has invested to remove these barriers and allowed technology and project developers bid into the UK’s renewable auction.
Finally, we need a clear target and commitment from the Government to work with the industry to deliver this. Long-term thinking will ensure the jobs that are created in this transition, and economic benefit, can be shared within the UK. I don’t want us to repeat the same mistakes that we did with wind, and instead following the Danish example.
Who would you want us to interview next and why?
I would like you to interview Bill Gates and convince him to invest in wave energy.
