The Crown Estate, manager of the UK's seabed, has agreed rights for six new wave and tidal current demonstration zones and five new wave and tidal current sites throughout the country, each with the potential to deliver a project of between 10 and 30MW.
The locations for the demonstration zones and project sites include three off the coast of England, four off the coast of Scotland, one in Northern Ireland and three off the coast of Wales.
The Crown Estate launched the wave and tidal current leasing process in October 2013 and these new demonstration zones are in areas specially chosen by The Crown Estate for their suitability for test and demonstration activities.
Under the agreements, Wave Hub has been approved for two wave and one tidal demonstration zone in North Cornwall, South Pembrokeshire and North Devon, EMEC was awarded one tidal and one wave zone in Scotland, and Mentor Môn gets a tidal stream demonstration zone in Wales.
Of the project sites approved, Siemens MCT was awarded rights for three tidal stream sites - Portland Bill in Dorset, Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland and Mull of Galloway in Scotland. EMEC was also awarded rights for the Stronsay Firth tidal stream managed test facility project in Scotland, while Minesto is to develop a tidal steam project at Holyhead Deep in Wales.
“By providing these additional seabed rights we are pleased to be enabling further technology development and commercialisation, which will be critical if the UK is to unlock its significant natural resources for wave and tidal current energy," said Rob Hastings, Director of Energy and Infrastructure at Crown Estates. "This innovative approach to leasing the seabed sees us responding to market demand and introducing managed demonstration zones to give other organisations the opportunity to lend tangible support in their local areas."
With this leasing process now complete, the next stage is for the demonstration zone managers to start to attract developers for the zones and to undertake further work, such as gathering environmental data that can help developers with the consenting process.
The Crown Estate says it will now consider how best to optimise future leasing processes as required to meet market appetite.
