OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems

32
NORTHERN IRELAND
In October 2012, The Crown Estate announced the award of development rights for two 100MW tidal
projects in the first Offshore Renewable Energy Leasing Round held in Northern Ireland waters. It is
expected that these projects will contribute to the Northern Ireland target of 40% renewable electricity
consumption by 2020.
Support Initiatives and Market Stimulation Incentives
The main market mechanism for the support of renewable energy in the UK is the Renewables Obligation
(RO). A review of the RO concluded in July 2012 in which 5 ROCs was confirmed for wave and tidal stream
energy up to 30MW project cap for deployment in the period from April 2013 to 2017.Beyond 2017, it is
the intention that marine technologies will continue to be supported via the proposed FiT (feed-in tariff)
with a Contract for Difference (CfD) support mechanism introduced under the Electricity Market Reform
(EMR). This should provide greater clarity and long-term vision for investors. The initial CfD price setting
process for renewables will be similar to the most recent Renewables Obligation Banding Review, and
much of the same data will be used to ensure broad coherence between the two schemes. However, there
are a few areas where additional information may now be available or is relevant. For example, a focused
complementary Call for Evidence was published in October which can be viewed on the National Grid
website (http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/Electricity+Market+Reform/index.htm). An EMR
subgroup from the MEPB was set up to feed into the process, ensure that the concerns of the sector were
taken into consideration, and provide evidence relevant to the setting of the strike price.
Competition for the Marine Energy Array Demonstrator (MEAD) scheme was launched in April 2012 and
closed in June. The scheme will provide £20 million capital grant towards the demonstration of the first
wave and tidal arrays.
(http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/wave_tidal/funding/mead/mead.aspx).
Awards are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
SCOTLAND
To accelerate the drive towards commercialisation of the marine renewables industry in Scotland, in June
2012, the Scottish Government announced further funding through an £18 million Marine Renewables
Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) to support the deployment of the first pre-commercial arrays in Scotland.
Funding for the projects will be awarded in 2013.
In October 2012, the First Minister launched the Renewable Energy Investment Fund (REIF). £103m has
been allocated to help promote the use of energy from renewable sources by supporting projects that:
ÌÌ
Accelerate the growth of the marine renewable energy sector in Scotland;
ÌÌ
Increase community ownership of renewable energy projects in Scotland; and
ÌÌ
Provide for district heating networks that utilise renewable heat technologies
NORTHERN IRELAND
Invest NI, DETI’s economic development body, is working with RegenSW, Scottish Highland and Islands and
Renewable UK to develop a UK-wide supply chain model for wave and tidal energy based on The Crown
Estate supply chain model for offshore wind energy. The model includes activities in all areas of wave and
tidal energy technology and deployment. It has been agreed to launch it in Spring 2013. The supply chain
will include companies from all of UK.
Main Public Funding Mechanisms
The first port of call for enquiries about funding and other opportunities for marine energy and other
renewables is the Energy Generation and Supply Knowledge Transfer Network (https://connect.innovateuk.
org/web/energyktn ). However, brief summaries of some of the organisations that support innovation at its
different stages are given below:
ÌÌ
the Research Councils UK Energy Programme provides funding for basic strategic and applied research
into a wide range of technology areas: http://www.rcukenergy.org.uk/
ANNUAL
REPORT 2012