EVOLVE project shows 70GW of untapped European marine power

Exploring marine energy prospects for Ireland, Portugal and Great Britain, the spatial modelling study identified almost 60GW of practically viable wave energy and 10GW of tidal stream energy. Divided by territory, the results show resources of 34.8GW in Great Britain, 18.8GW in Ireland and 15.5GW in Portugal.

The two-year initiative was led by Aquatera with support from WavEC Offshore Renewables, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) and The University of Edinburgh, along with wave and tidal energy developers CorPower Ocean and Orbital Marine Power. Projections from the study found that 10GW of ocean energy installed in Great Britain alone could save £1.46bn per year in power system dispatch costs, with emissions reduced by up to 1.05 MtCO2. It was found that a more diverse mix of renewables, including ocean energy, results in a more consistent renewable production profile that is better able to meet hourly electricity demands.

“There has been much commentary in recent years about the potential benefits of adding wave and tidal to the broader energy system, but this has been hampered by limited quantifiable studies,” said EVOLVE technical manager Dr Shona Pennock, who also serves as a research associate in Marine Energy within Edinburgh University’s Policy & Innovation Group.

“The key headline from the EVOLVE Project is that including a higher proportion of ocean energy within our future electricity system consistently results in higher renewable dispatch, for the same total renewable energy availability, due to the offsetting of wave and tidal with wind and solar generation. The ability to dispatch more renewables also results in lower fossil fuel and peaking plant dispatch, and thus lower total dispatch costs and carbon emissions.”

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Swedish wave energy developer CorPower Ocean and Scottish tidal stream energy developer Orbital Marine Power contributed significant internal ocean energy data. Analysts used these data sets to create a hypothetical generation series, calculating the potential impact of ocean energy on the overall energy system. Evidence shows that wave energy supplies higher volumes of power when wind energy dips and that tidal stream generation is completely decoupled from wind, meaning a combination of ocean and wind profiles provides greater value, rather than working in isolation.

“The key challenge in the race to net-zero and 24/7 carbon free energy lies in the supply of consistent and stable renewable energy,” said Anders Jansson, head of Business Development at CorPower Ocean.  

“By modelling future power system scenarios across Europe, the EVOLVE Project has been able to clearly demonstrate the role ocean energy can play in the future, ensuring a more cost-effective matching of energy supply and demand. Wave energy, in particular, has been found to correlate best to peak demand and could improve overall system security. This is particularly pertinent given the current climate and broad demand to ease reliance on gas imports.”