{"id":8436,"date":"2020-12-15T14:15:59","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T14:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=8436"},"modified":"2022-08-16T13:15:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T12:15:47","slug":"the-ocean-energy-sector-and-the-future-of-the-european-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/the-ocean-energy-sector-and-the-future-of-the-european-economy\/8436\/","title":{"rendered":"The ocean energy sector and the future of the European economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Innovation Platform\u2019s Managing Editor, Michelle Gordon, spoke to Ocean Energy Europe about how the ocean energy sector is progressing and the importance of wave and tidal energy to the future of the European economy and its ability to meet carbon neutrality targets<\/h2>\n

The oceans are the world\u2019s largest untapped source of renewable energy. By 2050, ocean energy can provide 10% of Europe\u2019s current electricity needs and 400,000 jobs, and European industry continues to benefit from its experience and expertise in the sector. Indeed, European companies account for 66% of tidal energy patents and 44% of wave energy patents globally, meaning that they are well-placed to capture a global market estimated to be worth \u20ac53bn annually in 2050.<\/p>\n

Ocean Energy Europe (OEE) is the largest network of ocean energy professionals in the world, representing the interests of over 120 organisations, including Europe\u2019s leading utilities, industrialists and research institutes.<\/p>\n

The Innovation Platform\u2019s Managing Editor, Michelle Gordon, spoke to OEE about how the sector is progressing in Europe, how OEE is supporting its continued development, and the importance of wave and tidal energy to both the future of the European economy and its ability to meet carbon neutrality targets.<\/p>\n

Could you provide an overview of the wave energy sector in Europe?<\/h3>\n

11.3MW<\/a> of wave energy has been installed in Europe since 2010. Cumulative capacity has been increasing steadily, showing that the sector is developing and, as the technology advances, devices are surviving longer in the water and producing more power than anticipated.<\/p>\n

1.5MW of this capacity is currently in the water \u2013 as testing programmes are completed, data is collected, and machines are decommissioned to make way for the next iteration. We are currently seeing developers moving from testing smaller prototypes to deploying full-scale demonstration projects \u2013 a sign that the technology is getting closer to maturity.<\/p>\n

The majority of wave energy activity is still in Europe, where it all began. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe is still set to deploy up to 2MW1 of wave energy, demonstrating the resilience of the sector. The rest of the world is stepping up its activity, installing more capacity than Europe for the first time in 2018, with strong support from the Chinese and American governments yielding several new domestic projects.<\/p>\n

Broadly speaking, wave energy projects can be split into two groups \u2013 those in high-energy environments such as the Atlantic and North Sea, and those in calmer waters, such as the Mediterranean. The diversity of device types means that different technologies can be used according to the conditions at a given location, and that they can be used for a wide range of different applications. As well as large-scale projects designed to power Europe\u2019s homes and businesses, wave energy can be used to power entire islands, offshore installations, aquaculture, marine equipment, and desalination plants.<\/p>\n

Activities in the Atlantic and North Sea coasts include:<\/p>\n