Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult has identified measures to bolster marine energy sector funding, underlining that urgent action is necessary to get investors’ confidence back, it is stated in their press release.
The report highlights that this strategically important market could be worth around GBP 76 bln to the UK economy by 2050.
Funding for first arrays and technology proving have come to a stall as investors have been either unwilling to invest, or have been pulling out of the market due to lack of clarity on future investment return and timing, the report reads.
It is estimated the tidal industry may need upwards of GBP 100 mln and the wave industry almost double that amount of investments from both the public and private sectors.
ORE Catapult has identified five targeted actions that could accelerate commercialisation of technology and de-risk investment into the marine energy sector.
These actions include:
• greater alignment of the ways in which technologies are assessed, • standardisation in the approach to developing technologies, • greater coordination between private and public sector investors, • greater coordination of due diligence for both projects and technologies, • a potential role for government in underwriting debt finance for the industry.
Stephen Wyatt , ORE Catapult’s Strategy & Commercialisation Director, said: “Wave and tidal technologies represent a vital part of our future renewable energy mix in terms of the social and economic benefits they bring, but sector funding has reached a critical juncture and it is vital we act now in order to bolster this strategically important market for the UK economy.”
Image: Orkney Marine Renewables/Illustration