{"id":24832,"date":"2022-08-26T08:58:38","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T07:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=24832"},"modified":"2022-08-30T09:53:49","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T08:53:49","slug":"ocean-energy-makes-waves-renewable-energy-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/ocean-energy-makes-waves-renewable-energy-sector\/24832\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean energy can make waves in the renewable energy sector"},"content":{"rendered":"
As temperatures in Europe rise even faster than expected, the effects of climate change are getting very real. Coupled with skyrocketing energy prices that stem from an overreliance on fossil fuels, it is clearer than ever that Europe\u2019s future depends on its transition to a 100% renewable energy system.<\/p>\n
We need to act now to reach that goal, by developing a range of innovative renewable energy sources to complement the already well-established wind and solar sectors. One of those innovations is ocean energy \u2013 the next big thing in energy. The oceans are the world\u2019s largest untapped source of power. Ocean energy technologies harness the power of tides and waves, as well as differences in temperature and salinity, to produce electricity.<\/p>\n
Ocean energy is clean, renewable and has the potential to provide 10% of Europe\u2019s current electricity needs by 2050. That is enough to power 94 million households every year. In addition, a strong ocean energy industry will yield many economic benefits for Europe, from local jobs to global export opportunities.<\/p>\n
Europe has been leading the way in developing ocean energy technologies and is still the global frontrunner. For years, the European Union has been proactive in creating mechanisms that drive the development of ocean energy. This support has ensured that, today, most of the top ocean energy technologies are still designed and made in Europe.<\/p>\n
Between 2007 and 2019, total R&D expenditure on wave and tidal energy in the EU amounted to \u20ac3.84bn<\/a>, with \u20ac1.1bn coming from public funding programmes. On average, during the same period, every \u20ac1 of public funding (EU and national) has leveraged \u20ac2.9 of private investment. This commitment to funding ocean energy R&D has undoubtedly played an instrumental role in bringing these technologies to the brink of industrialisation and stimulating new economic activity.<\/p>\n Despite the huge progress made to date, technology developers are hitting a wall when it comes to scaling up. This \u2018Valley of Death\u2019 has been created by an absence of market visibility in EU Member States. The 27 National Energy & Climate Plans (NECPs) are completely focused on meeting 2030 targets \u2013 thus neglecting the technologies that are needed post-2030.<\/p>\n It is clear that R&D investment in second-generation renewables cannot stand alone \u2013 it must be coupled with market deployment in order to scale up the ocean energy industry.<\/p>\n One of the key European policy tools to address this shortcoming is the latest revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III). The European Parliament\u2019s ITRE committee<\/a> is demanding that the Directive should increase the EU\u2019s overall renewable energy target to 45% by 2030 and set out a new indicative target for innovative renewables at 5% of all new renewable energy capacity installed. This target for innovative renewables is key to allow ocean energy technologies to scale up and would ensure that Europe remains at the frontier of renewable energy innovation. EU national governments should embrace this opportunity and translate the Parliament\u2019s idea into concrete law.<\/p>\n Another important policy initiative is the REPowerEU plan, which the European Commission launched in response to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. REPowerEU\u2019s goal is to reduce Europe\u2019s dependence on Russian fossil fuel by accelerating the rollout of renewables. Most of the plan focuses on speeding up permitting processes, with a new law recognising renewable energy as \u2018an overriding public interest\u2019 and \u2018go-to\u2019 areas to fast-track renewable projects.<\/p>\n The text also confirms that the next call of the Innovation Fund will have a budget of \u20ac3bn to finance large-scale renewable energy projects. It will also include a new call for mid-sized pilot projects for validating, testing, and optimising highly innovative solutions, which is very well suited to the current needs of the ocean energy industry.<\/p>\n REPowerEU is a positive step towards an independent, stable, and renewable energy market in Europe. However, bolder actions can be taken, such as the European Parliament\u2019s proposed clear and binding targets for innovative renewables.<\/p>\n The final piece of the European policy puzzle is the EU strategy on offshore renewable energy<\/a>. This strategy was launched by the European Commission at the end of 2020, with the goal of boosting uptake of offshore renewables, and creating sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU. It sets clear targets of 100 MW of installed ocean energy capacity by 2025 and 40 GW by 2050.<\/p>\n This is a major step forward for the ocean energy industry. Unfortunately, despite a very strong pipeline of ocean energy projects, the implementation of this strategy has been slow and time is running out. Our latest<\/a> report proposes a step-by-step action plan for the EU and Member States to move up a gear and reach that 100 MW target by 2025.<\/p>\nRecasting the Renewable Energy Directive<\/h3>\n
Fast-tracking renewables via REPowerEU<\/h3>\n
Delivering on the dedicated strategy for offshore RES<\/h3>\n