Abstract
This report covers tidal stream (TS) cost reduction via technology innovation and demonstrates how cost reduction is crucial in enabling an accelerated growth trajectory for the sector. The focus here is on innovations which will be needed to achieve ~1GW of installed TS capacity in the UK by 2035 as per recommendations put forward by the Marine Energy Council (MEC).
With the UK grid becoming ever more dependent on variable renewable generation, grid balancing costs have risen substantially in recent years, with the cost of balancing the UK’s power grid coming to £4.19bn in 2022, an increase of 250% since 2019.
Such a drastic rise in grid balancing costs highlights the criticality of futureproofing the UK energy system through increased flexibility and a diverse portfolio of predictable low-carbon generation – of which TS can significantly contribute towards – thus driving the need for industry support and technology commercialisation.