TY - RPRT
TI - Wave Energy Roadmap - Realising the Potential of Wave Energy in the next 10 to 15 years
AU - Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Hub
AB - Wave Energy has the potential to provide a significant source of renewable energy and economic growth for the UK and to contribute to the UK Government’s climate change objectives [1]. The UK has the necessary infrastructure, markets, technology, legislation and regulation in place and, with key strategic interventions, a successful Wave Energy sector can be delivered with significant benefits to the UK.  We need a diverse renewable energy resource for the UK’s net zero 2050; Wave Energy will be an essential component of the mix and brings valuable grid-balancing energy system benefits. Exploitable wave resource in the UK has the potential to deliver in-grid electricity of 40-50 TWh/year, contributing approximately 15% of the UK’s current electricity demand, and to have 22GW installed capacity by 2050 [2]. Wave Energy is one of the few domestically led technology sectors that advances our low carbon economy with significant UK content (estimates suggest that the wave industry could secure approximately 80% UK content in the domestic market [2]). The resource maps directly to fragile coastal communities, generating significant impact on community identity, delivering economic benefit and creating high value jobs and economic growth. 8,100 new jobs are estimated in Wave Energy by 2040 [3] and industry support would deliver a GVA benefit ratio of 6:1 [2]. Furthermore, Wave Energy is an abundant local energy resource for the UK, it is well matched to demand and delivers security of supply chain infrastructure.   As an early leader, the UK Wave Energy sector has accumulated considerable experience, expertise and knowledge from the development and deployment of various prototypes and has a strong community of academics and industry. However, the development of Wave Energy will have to accelerate rapidly in order to reach its potential contribution to the UK’s net zero target by 2050. This Road Map for Wave Energy sets out the logical steps to be taken through targeted technology development and support mechanisms needed to encourage inclusivity, collaboration and sharing in order to reach the milestones of £90/MWh Levelised Cost of Energy (LCoE) by 2035 and 22GW installed capacity by 2050. This technology push should be complemented by market pull mechanisms that increase as the technology is proven and the market begins to develop, and then shrink as the market becomes established and self-sustaining.   Achieving a step change reduction in the Wave Energy technology unit cost is fundamental to unlocking further investment and development. This is addressed in the early stage of the Road Map, with a focus on design and validation of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) technologies to prove availability and survivability at reduced unit cost. This may be achieved through design innovation and use of alternative component technologies in existing WECs or novel WEC concepts. Targeted research to demonstrate survivability with significant cost reduction is the first step, followed by demonstration of the viability of pilot WEC farms.     Although the main focus of Wave Energy’s contribution to net zero targets is at utility scale, niche markets in Wave Energy have developed rapidly and are seen as an important stepping-stone and an effective route to demonstrating the benefit of integrating Wave Energy within the energy system alongside other renewables. Here, niche applications are targeted in parallel with utility-scale WEC design.  As the volume of in-sea Wave Energy demonstration and deployment increases, interdisciplinary research is targeted to improve understanding of interactions with marine ecology and environment, achieve cost reductions in impact assessment and to streamline policy, planning and consenting. Opportunities to exploit technology transfer from other sectors will also grow as deployments increase, enabling lowering of LCoE and risk reduction in operations management, maintenance and safety.   From 2040 onwards, large-scale deployment of Wave Energy will deliver the most dramatic LCoE reductions, with research and innovation continuing in parallel to further improve performance and drive costs down. The global potential for Wave Energy is vast and, with strategic investment, Wave Energy could not only be a significant contributor to our future renewable energy mix but also a lucrative export market for the UK.
CY - Plymouth, Devon, England
DA - 2022/01//
PY - 2022
SP - 14
PB - Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Hub
UR - https://supergen-ore.net/impact#publications
LA - English
KW - Marine Energy
KW - Wave
ER -