Abstract
Tidal stream power offers a predictable source of renewable energy, contributing to energy security and Net Zero. There is also significant socio economic benefit to Europe from building and operating tidal farms, which this paper aims to quantify. Europe is at the forefront of developing and deploying tidal stream technology, with a significant pipeline of projects to be built over the coming years. The socio-economic benefits resulting from developing, building and operating tidal stream projects are modelled. They are quantified using two common metrics, gross value added and full-time equivalent jobs. Depending on supply chain competitiveness and rate of deployment, the economic benefit to the European economy from building and operating tidal stream projects in Europe could be €15bn to €46.5bn, with exports worth €2bn to €26bn. By 2050 there could be almost 70,000 jobs in the tidal sector from projects in Europe, and a further 40,000 from international exports, totalling nearly 1.2 million job-years of employment between now and 2050. Almost half of the jobs are associated with device construction, and by 2050, operation and maintenance of turbines and farms could be almost a quarter of sector jobs. A significant proportion of jobs are in manufacturing, offering opportunity for transfer of skilled workforce from the oil & gas and other sectors as part of the Just Transition.