Academics call for long-term strategy to help wave energy

Report recommends separate CfD round for wave power

Academics have warned Brexit could hold back wave energy and called for a coherent long-term strategy to help it play its part in the UK’s energy mix.

A report by the University of Strathclyde and Imperial College London claims despite £200 million of public funds being invested since 2000, wave power technology has failed to mature and be widely deployed in the UK.

The report blames a premature emphasis on array-scale commercialisation and a ‘complex and poorly-coordinated’ energy policy landscape, along with a lack of test facilities for prototypes.

It adds while the UK is well-placed to deliver a commercial wave energy device, progress is being held back by Brexit and its impact on funding and international collaboration.

In order to help the sector reach commercialisation, the report calls for a long-term wave energy strategy, especially for Scotland.

It also warns that emerging technologies, such as wave energy, can be ‘out-competed’ in subsidy auctions when up against more established technologies.

The report therefore recommends separating wave energy from the same Contracts for Difference allocation as offshore wind energy and calls on the government find ways of avoiding wave energy becoming bundled into wider marine energy research and development programmes.

“Following the Paris climate agreement there is a critical need to improve our understanding of how to accelerate low-carbon energy innovation in the most effective manner possible,” said Professor Jim Skea, chair in sustainable energy at the Centre for Environmental Policy at from Imperial College London.

“The report points towards two weakness in wave innovation that can be remedied: first the lack of convergence on a dominant design that has been the key to success for other renewable technologies and, second, fragmentation of support across many overlapping schemes,” he added.

Commenting on the report, Scottish Renewables’ senior policy manager, Hannah Smith, said: “Wave Energy Scotland, set up by the Scottish Government in 2014, has refocused the industry’s efforts on collaborating to optimise technology – a model that’s attracting interest from all around the globe.

“Outside that model, however, there is no route to market for wave power technologies, and we need government to provide a viable mechanism to ensure the sector’s continued development,’ added Smith.

“A failure to do so would risk losing Scotland’s lead in this global industry – and the consequent loss of economic and environmental benefits to UK Plc.”