Abstract
The emergence of new low-carbon technologies such as Tidal Stream (TS) generation opens opportunities to harness the full potential of renewable energy resources in UK waters. According to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult), the UK has potential sites to connect 6 to 17 GW of TS, supplying 21 – 60 TWh/year of electricity which is about 6% - 17% of the current annual UK electricity demand, i.e. around 350 TWh.These technologies can improve the diversity of low-carbon resources to supply the electricity demand needed by the UK and be exported to neighbouring regions to support decarbonisation in Europe and gain economic benefits through energy trading. However, TS is relatively new, and it is unclear how the penetration of such technology will impact the overall energy system and what is needed to facilitate cost-effective integration of such technologies and other technologies. In this context, this report aims to address those questions. A spectrum of case studies considering different penetration of TS, locational constraints, different scenarios for sensitivity studies with various heat decarbonisation strategies, TS costs, interconnector capacities, system flexibility, wind profiles, access to hydrogen market and future technology improvement have been analysed to investigate the role and quantify the system benefits of TS and their drivers in the future UK net-zero energy system (2050). An integrated whole energy systems model (IWES) is used to quantify the system impacts of different scenarios. IWES is a least-cost optimisation model that can simultaneously minimise long-term investment and short-term operating costs across multi-energy systems (electricity, heating, hydrogen) from the supply side, energy network to the end-customers while meeting the required carbon targets and system security constraints.