IEA-OES highlights tidal energy development in latest brochure

Ocean Energy Systems (OES), a technology collaboration program within the International Energy Agency (IEA), has published a brochure highlighting progress made across its member countries in the tidal current energy sector.

The global tidal and wave energy market was valued at $477.81 million in 2022 and is projected to generate a revenue of around $10 billion by 2031 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43% during the forecast period, based on Astute Analytica’s recent report.

The brochure provides a list of tidal projects developed across member countries of the IEA-OES, showing continued progress in 2023.

Developers are focusing not only on building up experience with long-term operation and the execution of maintenance programs but also on the installation of new turbine designs developing improved control systems and optimizing fully integrated power train solutions.

These innovations aim to reduce the cost of tidal energy technology, increase rated power, and enhance turbine performance.

OES points out that several projects under development are delivering local economic value for coastal communities. Developers are also delivering comprehensive environmental monitoring programmes and collaborating with several partners to address marine spatial planning issues for the wide-scale uptake of tidal energy.

By working together, the sector is making progress towards the development of large-scale, commercially viable tidal energy projects with a continued path of cost reduction alongside enhanced reliability.

The list starts with the MeyGen tidal energy project, developed by SIMEC Atlantis Energy, which became the first tidal stream array in the world to generate 50GWh of clean electricity from tidal energy.

One of the projects listed in the IEA-OES brochure is the Uldolmok Tidal Power Station in South Korea which has just completed two years of electricity generation, exploiting the tides of the Myeongnyang Strait at Jindo Island.

Edinburgh-based tidal energy company Nova Innovation found its place in the brochure after doubling the size of its Shetland Tidal Array with the installation of two new turbines in January this year. At the time, the company informed that, with the installation of the fifth and sixth turbines, Shetland Tidal Array became the array with the largest number of turbines anywhere in the world.

Other upcoming developments in the tidal sector are also featured in the brochure, starting with SeaQurrent, a Dutch company, that is moving towards a demonstration of its fourth TidalKite system at Ameland on the Wadden Sea.

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