EMEC teams up with Isle of Wight tidal scheme

The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland, has joined forces with Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC) to develop a large-scale tidal energy site off the Isle of Wight in England.

PTEC tidal flows (Courtesy of EMEC)
PTEC tidal flows (Courtesy of EMEC)

PTEC is a 30 MW tidal energy demonstration facility 2.5 km south of the Isle of Wight, with potential expansion capacity up to 300 MW.

After signing off the agreements, EMEC already started working on site development and optimisation activities, the centre informed.

This site will be eligible to bid into future UK Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation rounds enabling tidal energy technologies developed in the UK to deliver predictable low carbon energy, according to EMEC.

PTEC has re-established its operational status to move to the next stage of development and pulled in EMEC expertise to get the site ready for commercial scale tidal energy technologies now coming to market.

Within this, PTEC is also exploring opportunities for offshore green hydrogen generation, EMEC said.

Matthew Finn, Commercial Director at EMEC, said: “The EMEC – PTEC partnership shows the enthusiasm from across the UK to roll out the deployment of leading tidal stream technologies. Working alongside the Marine Energy Council, EMEC and PTEC submitted evidence into the marine energy consultation and have now come together to get the PTEC site ready and accommodate commercial tidal energy array deployments.

“This is a great opportunity for EMEC to share the consenting and site development knowledge developed in Orkney, while supporting development of tidal energy and local job creation in the Isle of Wight and Solent”.

Rob Stevens, PTEC Chair, said: “The PTEC partnership with global leaders EMEC is a huge opportunity to realise our vision of establishing a clean and inexhaustible tidal energy industry in the Isle of Wight and Solent. 

“We have tidal energy developers knocking on the door, eager to deploy their technologies, and with EMEC on board we believe we’ve got the best team in the game to get the site CfD-ready. I’m confident that this, and the other projects in Wales and Scotland, will be the catalyst to stimulate private investment and the full commercialisation of tidal stream energy in the UK”.