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Marine power report points way to electricity from the sea

Thursday 29th June 2006

npower, the UK's largest electricity supplier, in association with BWEA (British Wind Energy Association), will tomorrow issue the 'npower juice Path to Power Report', a route-map to utilising the full potential of the power of waves and tidal streams in the UK.

When launched in 2001, npower juice broke new ground by becoming the UK's first domestic green energy product to be offered at the same price as standard electricity. This independent report has been supported through the npower juice fund, set up to assist the development of new and emerging technologies such as marine power.

The report will be launched at an event on the river Thames tomorrow, which will showcase marine projects and be attended by the Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks MP, and Stephen Tindale, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK.

The report states that marine renewable energy technologies could theoretically provide up to 2.1% of the UK's electricity demand by 2020, enough to power around 1.6 million homes. But the report reveals there are significant hurdles to harnessing this potential – identified as financing, grid access, and consenting. For the first time, this report explores these issues and creates a strategy document for Britain, examining each hurdle and setting out recommendations for the most effective way of overcoming them.

Kevin McCullough, director of npower renewables, said: "The report can help create a blueprint for an exciting phase of development within the energy industry. The UK is the world-leading centre of marine renewables technology, and is home to the greatest concentration of wave and tidal stream technology developers. Coupled with some of the best wave and tidal energy resources in the world, and the UK's strong existing offshore skills gained from the oil, gas and offshore wind industries, this offers real opportunities to benefit both the environment and the UK economy. We are now closer than ever to making marine renewables a reality in the UK, but the challenges that exist must be resolved if the journey is to be completed."

Minister for Energy, Malcolm Wicks MP said:

"The Path to Power is a useful contribution to the debate on how we can further develop the UK's burgeoning marine energy industry, an industry in which we are world leaders.

"The Government has demonstrated its commitment by providing significant funding for R&D support to the main UK device developers and the world-class research base, as well as the European Marine Energy Centre's wave and tidal test facilities in Orkney. The DTI's £50M Marine Renewables Deployment Fund has also been set up to move the technologies towards commercial success.

"The challenge now is to get devices into the water and deliver credible data on the costs and performance of prototype devices."

Stephen Tindale – executive director, Greenpeace said:

"Climate change is already killing 150,000 people every year and we have a moral obligation to do everything we can to cut emissions. The npower juice fund is playing an important role in helping to get marine technologies off the drawing board and into the water."

Michael Hay, marine renewables development manager at BWEA, commented, "We believe the 'npower juice Path to Power Report' will be vital in securing the support required to help move the wave and tidal stream industry from the testing stage towards commercial reality. With the right support, marine renewables could start to contribute towards meeting our carbon-free energy needs in the near future as well as developing a domestic industry for the emerging global market – a win-win result which can only enhance the UK's reputation as a global leader in the fight against climate change."

npower is supporting the development of marine energy on behalf of its juice customers through the juice fund, with projects already benefiting from grants ranging from £30,000 to £200,000. npower also recently announced its plans to investigate the feasibility of an innovative wave power station at Siadar on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. This development would consist of building a new breakwater - similar in appearance to those frequently used around the UK coastline for the provision of harbour facilities - with a wave energy scheme built into it, with a capacity of 3 megawatts.

Available for interview:

  • Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks MP
  • Managing Director, npower renewables – Kevin McCullough
  • Marine Renewables Development Manager (BWEA) – Michael Hay
  • Development Manager, Marine Renewables (npower renewables) – Jon Boston

For further information, please contact:

  • npower, Nick McHugh Tel: 01905 340 854
  • npower renewables, Karen Jones Tel: 07989 493165
  • BWEA, Alison Hill, Tel: 020 7689 1966.

The full report is available to download from www.bwea.com/pathtopower

Notes to Editors:

  1. The 'npower juice Path to Power Report' is an independent study, sponsored by the npower juice fund, into what needs to be done and when in order to ensure a successful wave and tidal stream energy industry for the UK. This study, the largest of its kind ever conducted for this sector, follows over 100 interviews with industry, marine stakeholders, financiers, electrical infrastructure bodies and key Government departments.
  2. npower is the UK's top largest electricity supplier and draws on 50 years experience in supplying electricity and gas. npower offers a range of essential home and business services to 6.3 million customers across the UK.
  3. npower renewables is one of the UK's leading renewable energy developers and operators with an operating portfolio of 446MW comprising onshore wind farms, hydroelectric projects and the UK's first major offshore wind farm. See www.npower-renewables.com
  4. BWEA is the UK's leading renewable energy trade association championing the wind, wave and tidal stream energy sectors. BWEA's Marine Focus Group consists of 117 companies interested and involved in this emerging industry, making it the largest wave and tidal energy group in the world. BWEA is helping to ensure that the knowledge gained through the development of offshore wind energy is transferred into the emerging marine renewables. See www.bwea.com/marine
  5. npower juice was developed through a partnership between npower and Greenpeace. It is generated from a number of renewable energy sources, primarily at Britain's first major offshore wind farm, North Hoyle off the North Wales coast. npower has made a commitment to purchase enough electricity from renewable sources to match the juice customers' electricity consumption throughout each year.
  6. Created in 2003 in collaboration with Greenpeace, the npower juice fund is primarily aimed at assisting the development of new renewable technologies, such as those harnessing the power of our waves and tides. npower finances the fund on behalf of npower juice customers at £10 per customer per year.
  7. npower is the supplier of green energy to the new Wembley Stadium, the Liberty Stadium in Swansea and sponsor of the Test Match Series in England, National Village Cricket Championship and the Twenty20 Cup.
  8. The BWEA predict annual generation from marine technologies of approximately 8TWh per year divided by the average annual electricity consumption of a UK household of 4,700 kWh per year = 1.6 million homes.

    The energy predicted to be generated by the proposal has been calculated using an assumed capacity factor of 30% and is based on an installed capacity of 3000 MW (BWEA).