UK Crown Estate to promote wave, tidal energy projects, plans £20m investment

UK’s Crown Estate plans to invest up to £20m for the development of the country’s first wave and tidal stream array projects, with the objective of lending its support to the nascent industry.

The investments would cover two wave or tidal stream projects with support from other companies and government grants.

Each project will include multiple generation devices arranged in an array to generate low-carbon electricity and must have a minimum total installed capacity of 3MW.

Promoters seeking a slice of the proposed investments must possess a Crown Estate agreement for lease besides grid connection agreements; and must be in a position to arrive at final investment decisions by March 2014.

Speaking on the investment plans Crown Estate energy and infrastructure portfolio director Rob Hastings remarked that having proven the feasibility of several wave and tidal stream technologies the industry must now move towards demonstration projects.

"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," added Hastings.

Responding to the announcement, trade and professional body representing wave and tidal industries, RenewableUK said that the funding will not only accelerate deployment of full-scale arrays in the water, but also attract private investment to commercialise the sector.

UK Renewable Energy Association (REA) marine renewable head Dr Stephanie Merry termed it a welcome intervention from The Crown Estate.

"The Crown Estate is a well established and well respected body in the sector, and by putting its own money where its mouth is, we expect this to boost the confidence of other prospective investors," Merry said.