The Crown Estate is considering investing up to £20 million in the UK's first wave and tidal stream array projects.
The Estate said the move follows a report last year which found there is potential for tens of gigawatts of wave and tidal projects around the UK.
It is considering investing in two wave and / or tidal stream projects, alongside other companies and in parallel with grant support from government. The investment will be in the construction of the projects, with each project involving multiple generation devices arranged in an array and with a total installed capacity of 3 megawatts or greater.
To be eligible for investment, the projects must already have a Crown Estate agreement for lease, have or soon obtain statutory consents and grid connection agreements and realistically be expected to reach final decisions for capital investment by March 2014.
Commenting on the announcement, Rob Hastings, Director of the Energy and Infrastructure Portfolio, said:
"Several wave and tidal stream technologies are now proven and it is timely for the industry to move on to demonstration projects. First arrays are important because they are on the critical path to larger schemes around the UK and worldwide. By bringing our capital and expertise to bear, we hope to catalyse investments by others and to see projects proceed to construction and operation as soon as possible."
RenewableUK, the trade and professional body representing the wave and tidal energy industries, has welcomed the announcement by The Crown Estate that it will invest up to £20 million in two wave or tidal energy projects.
RenewableUK’s Director of Offshore Renewables, Nick Medic, said:
“This latest announcement provides a boost for the wave and tidal industry at a key moment, when a number of concepts have clearly demonstrated technical viability. The funding will accelerate a crucial step forward - from successful individual devices to the deployment of full-scale arrays in the water. It will also help to attract the right level of private investment to commercialise the sector.”
The Crown Estate owns and manages more than half the foreshore and almost the entire seabed around the UK.
Developers are now invited to make expressions of interest about investment in their projects to The Crown Estate.
A guidance document, which includes full eligibility criteria, is available to download here:
First array investments guidance document
(PDF, 460 KB)
The deadline for responses is Friday 15 February 2013.
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