Tidal, wave energy in Europe nears 50 MW installed or under construction

At the end of 2016 Europe had 13 MW of installed tidal power capacity and nearly 5 MW of wave energy capacity, while a further 30 MW were under construction.

Ocean Energy Europe says in a new report that Europe’s ocean energy industry began to take off in 2016. The EU is a key contributor for progress in the sector with Horizon 2020 funding of EUR 130 million (USD 138.3m) committed to ocean energy since 2014. Also, the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2016 for the first time invested in the sector.

The report says key milestones for the tidal sector include the installation of the first pre-commercial farms at Paimpol-Brehat in France, and the MeyGen and Shetland tidal projects in Scotland. Meygen is touted as the biggest tidal energy farm to date.

For wave energy, there are a number of frontrunner technologies preparing to deploy the first pre-commercial farms in the coming two to three years.

Total of 21 tidal turbines were deployed in European waters at end-2016, while construction is in progress on 20 more with a combined capacity of 12 MW. There were also 13 wave energy devices at sea, while six projects of 17 MW in total are under construction. An additional 15 MW of wave energy capacity have secured permits.

See the full report here.

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