Pathway for development vital for marine energy “revolution”
Friday 05 March 2010
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| The wave and tidal industry needs to convince politicians and financiers that there is a pathway towards development |
The wave and tidal sector must present a "solid vision" of how it will develop to realise a "second industrial revolution", delegates at RenewableUK's Wave and Tidal conference were told yesterday (March 4).
Speaking at the event Chris Campbell, executive director of Canadian body the Ocean Renewable Energy Group (OREG), said that it was "vital" that the industry convince politicians and financiers that there is "a pathway" to develop the industry and attract the investment necessary to commercialise the technology.
Earlier, energy minister David Kidney had described the wave and tidal industry as a "second industrial revolution".
"It falls to us to grasp greatness this time round," he said. "But the direction of travel is going one way - and that's growth."
Mr Campbell also acknowledged the potential of the sector, but thought that commercialisation was still some way off.
He maintained that by providing some idea of the "scale, scope and time frame" for developing the sector would make it easier to obtain the debt financing needed to scale up beyond the demonstration phase.
By increasing affordability and reliability between 2015 to 2020, wave and tidal would be able to compete for skilled workers and resources like boats with the offshore wind sector, which would be expanding exponentially with the advent of Round 3 wind farms, he said.
The risk of inaction, Mr Campbell said, would see wave and tidal "go the way of hydrogen" and be discarded as a viable lever for investment and an answer to climate change.
"We haven't adequately defined what industry looks like, where it will be and what it will be doing," he said.
"We need a vision of long term market. If don't promote [wave and tidal] as offering significant contribution we'll get written off. We'll be dismissed like hydrogen, as a bad mistake that promised much but never delivered."
We haven't adequately defined what industry looks like, where it will be and what it will be doing
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Mr Campbell also touched on the issue of government funding, stating that the UK as a whole was "looking pretty good as a place to do things" as long as the Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) scheme was maintained. However, he argued that Scotland, which offers a higher ROC banding to wave and tidal projects than England and Wales, was in pole position.
However, there was still a "chasm of death" in funding between demonstration and deployment, Mr Campbell claimed, which needed to be addressed.
"Governments don't realise there are no small marine projects," he said.
Andrew Mill, chief executive of Narec and chair of RenewableUK's marine strategy group said that the sector was still at such an early stage that capital grants were far more important that ROCS.
He added that, with the Marine Renewables Proving Fund added as a previous stage to the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund, which has yet to receive an application, this was coming together.
"We are kidding ourselves if we think the industry is anywhere near using the ROC mechanism as a driver," he said.
"If we spend our time trying to decide ROCs levels we overlook the fact that this industry is still in its early stages and needs direct capital grants."
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