UK is a wave energy world leader, but Labour risks blowing this £260bn chance

The fortunes of the whole UK have been intrinsically linked to stretches of turbulent and unforgiving water that most of the population will never visit. Even now, as the UK seeks to zero out its emissions by 2050 and deliver an energy transition at a pace that would have once seemed unachievable, we will continue to find the solutions to our challenges offshore.

From Shetland in the north to Dover in the south, the same stretch of sea that once drove the maritime trade and industrial growth on which the UK is built, now holds the key to powering homes, cities, and industries, its winds, tides, and waves offering a limitless force of nature.

Unleashing potential of North Sea

Far from being a relic of an oil and gas industry in a state of decline, the North Sea is evolving and rebranding. As a home to countless clean energy projects, it gives us the chance not only to secure long-term energy independence, but to lead the world in the race towards a sustainable future.

Clearly alive to this potential, the UK Government made “Unleashing the North Sea’s clean energy future” the headline for a major consultation that kicked off at the start of March. It’s a compelling strapline, one that aims to put communities, workers, businesses and supply chains at the heart of Britain’s energy transition.

While they are slowly but surely maturing, the North Sea’s oil and gas fields have long been the beating heart of the UK’s energy industry, supporting the employment of hundreds of thousands of people, contributing billions of pounds to the government’s coffers and supplying huge volumes of fuel that has powered the country.

A key component of this latest consultation is backing industry to make the North Sea a world-leader in offshore industries such as hydrogen, carbon capture and wind, as part of the government’s wider clean energy superpower mission. However, there are glaring omissions in the government’s 65-page document: ‘wave’, ‘ocean’ and ‘tidal’ do not receive a single mention between them.

Predictable and consistent

Various studies have shown that the UK’s net-zero-by-2050 target currently hangs by a thread. Correcting this requires government and industry to use every tool in the box and that includes harnessing the limitless power of the ocean to provide a reliable source of clean energy.

Ocean-based energy sources, particularly wave power, stand out for their predictability and consistency, making them a dependable complement to intermittent renewables such as wind.

Companies like the one I work for, Mocean Energy, are at the forefront of the UK’s advances in ocean technology, offering a depth-agnostic, hybrid solution that utilises wave, solar and battery storage to deliver continuous, reliable and renewable power.

What makes the consultation’s omission of ocean-based energy solutions even more puzzling is that this is an area in which the UK leads the charge.

A massive opportunity

The latest wave and tidal insight report from the Energy Industries Council (EIC) stated that, while there are a handful of markets where this technology is gaining traction, the UK is at the forefront of both testing wave devices and tidal stream energy. Scotland and Wales specifically were namechecked by the EIC for forging ahead, underpinned by business support mechanisms and leading developers.

Zooming out from the UK, the International Energy Agency’s Technology Collaboration Program on Ocean Energy Systems outlined the potential for wave and tidal stream technologies to contribute 300 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity globally by 2050.

Beyond the obvious environmental benefits of this ramp up, the market could be worth up to $340 billion (£260bn) by 2050. Given the UK’s leading position, it should be in a strong position to capture a sizable share of this, but it is far from a foregone conclusion.

For ocean energy companies, there are abundant global opportunities. International expansion is a focus for any business and many of the world’s energy hotspots – most notably Australia and the US – are enjoying a sense of optimism that the North Sea is missing. Policymakers must move now to anchor these companies, their knowledge, their skills, their people and their investment in the UK.

Targeted funding

Broadening the remit of the government’s ‘Building the North Sea’s Energy Future’ consultation to include ocean energy would be a good start, but support needs to extend beyond that.

Business mechanisms – most notably the government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, which guarantee developers a fixed price for the electricity their asset produces, thereby incentivising investment – can go a long way to accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies.

There is also a pressing need for targeted funding to support early adoption and demonstrate the ability of ocean technologies, paving the way for commercial viability and scale-up.

Government backing, dedicated ocean energy targets and pathways to deployment need to be attractive and straightforward enough to retain global capital in an increasingly competitive market. Maximising the benefits of such projects for local communities, many of which have suffered as a result of the decline in UK fishing, must also be a priority.

Done right, the UK’s ocean energy sector can become a global exemplar of innovation, sustainability, and economic growth, whilst also bringing the country closer to its net-zero targets. If we truly want to unleash clean energy in the North Sea, we must harness the power found in every rolling wave.

Ian Crossland is commercial director of Mocean Energy