Wave power can play greater role in UK’s Net Zero energy drive

A new study by the University of Plymouth positions the UK at the forefront of offshore renewable energy innovation and development worldwide
Coastal research at Porthleven

Wave energy has the potential to provide at least 15% of the UK’s annual electricity and help the country meet its Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050.

But for that potential to become a reality, it will require an extensive programme of collaboration, investment and innovation involving governments, science, industry, and landowners.

Those are the key findings of a new study examining the current state of the UK’s wave energy sector and how its fortunes have fluctuated over the past five decades.

Published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and led by academics from the University of Plymouth, it positions the UK at the forefront of offshore renewable energy innovation and development worldwide.

In 2017, almost 30% of the UK’s energy was generated through renewable technologies such as wind and solar power, dramatically reducing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and helping it pursue commitments made in the Kyoto Agreement.

That expertise has also been translated into significant progress in offshore renewable energy (ORE), but within that – compared to wind and even tidal technology – the wave energy sector is currently lagging behind.

This, the study’s authors say, is to some degree due to a small number of high-profile complications and commercial challenges which have harmed general confidence in the sector and led to a focus on niche applications rather than larger-scale projects.

However, the wave conditions right around the UK coastline – particularly in the Shetlands, Pentland Firth and Orkney, Hebrides, Pembrokeshire, South West England, and North Sea – remain more than capable of supporting wave energy developments.

Despite this, at the time of writing, the authors highlighted that there are currently just nine Crown Estate leased sites where wave energy devices are or had been operational in the UK. One more was in construction and one in development, however, a further ten sites previously identified as potential hotspots for the technology are either on hold or have been cancelled.

Professor Deborah Greaves OBE, Head of the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics at the University of Plymouth, is the study’s senior author. She said:

“The UK has been spearheading wave energy research and innovation since the early 1970s and its wave resources are among the best anywhere in the world. But despite steady progress, there hasn’t been the widescale adoption of wave energy technology that we have seen elsewhere in the renewables sector. This is in part due to the many and varied challenges of developing efficient devices and bringing them to the commercial market. However, we remain among the global pioneers in developing the technology, and have test facilities that attract and support developers from all around the world. With the right government and industry support, there is no reason why the UK’s wave energy sector cannot play a significant part in the national drive for Net Zero innovation.”

Deborah Greaves, Plymouth Pioneer
Professor Deborah Greaves OBE

The University is one of the UK’s leading centres for ORE research and innovation, both in terms of its world-leading academic expertise and state-of-the-art testing facilities.

It leads the Supergen ORE Hub, created in July 2018 with £9million of funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). And this study was informed by energy workshops held by the EPSRC in August 2019 and the Supergen ORE Hub in January 2020, as well as a comprehensive review of existing literature.

  • The full study – Jin and Greaves: Wave energy in the UK: Status review and future perspectives – is published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, doi: j.rser.2021.110932.

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Sunset Offshore Wind Turbine in a Wind farm under construction of England coast, UK. Image courtesy of Getty Images.  

Offshore renewable energy

The University is conducting research into all aspects of offshore wave, wind and tidal energy and working to inspire and influence everyone from academics and industry to global policy makers

Supergen ORE Hub and Network

Bringing together for mutual benefit the related research areas of wave, tidal and offshore wind.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is creating a new Supergen ORE Hub aimed to bring together for mutual benefit the related research areas of wave, tidal and offshore wind in order to share skills, resources and expertise across the field of ORE.

The Supergen ORE Network is a mail distribution list to keep the Offshore Renewable Energy Community up to date on the latest news and events organised by Supergen ORE Hub. If you would like to be involved, please register to join the Supergen ORE Network.

ORE Supergen Hub