About Marine Energy

Marine energy is about harnessing the energy from the sea - including waves, tidal streams and use of tidal range - to generate electricity.

Some 25% of the world’s wave and tidal technologies are being developed in the UK, which has the best wave and tidal resource in Europe.

The UK is widely regarded as a world leader in the development of marine renewable energy due to the high level of marine energy resource, its skilled expertise and the world-class complementary testing facilities at Wave Hub in Cornwall, the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney and the National Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) in Northumberland.

Analysis released by the Carbon Trust in May 2011 shows the UK could create over 68,000 UK jobs in this emerging sector.

The majority of these jobs would develop thanks to growing export markets in countries like Chile, Korea and America as well as Atlantic-facing European states which benefit from powerful waves or tidal currents, including South West England in the UK.

The Carbon Trust analysis found that total marine energy capacity could be 27.5GW in the UK by 2050, which would be capable of supplying to the grid the equivalent of over a fifth of current UK electricity demand.