The energy of waves - can we use it?
Renewable ocean power turns the tide
Later this year, the UK government is tipped to reform the Contract for Difference incentive mechanism so that wave and tidal power is calculated separately from offshore wind low carbon marine energy projects will be subsidized to be price competitive, but this time without factoring in much cheaper offshore wind.
This is expected to be a significant indication for investors. Once there s a market signal, then that s us out of the starting blocks as a sector, said Matthew Finn, commercial director at the Orkney-based European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), which has been testing and demonstrating tidal and wave energy device prototypes in the sea for nearly two decades. The hope is to make up ground on first generation technologies like solar and wind that are pretty bankable now and attract a lot of finance, Finn said.
Tides of change: how the UK can harness marine power
Investing in wave energy can create green jobs and lower emissions
Philip Payne/Zuma Press/PA Images
The environment has shot up the domestic and global agenda. This is good news for MPs like myself, who are part of the Conservative Environment Network, and renewed emphasis on a greener Britain should stimulate local constituency efforts in Gloucester, for example, we have ambitious ideas for a Green Energy Park to generate significant solar, wind and (later) hydrogen energy.
There will be challenges. Carrying constituents with us on the phasing out of diesel and petrol cars will involve mammoth effort requiring new regulations on electric charging points, incentives to switch vehicles and tax breaks to manufacturers so that electric…