Government set to invest £20m annually in Tidal Stream projects

The UK government is set to invest £20m per year in Tidal Stream electricity as part of its renewable energy auction scheme.

As part of the fourth allocation round of the Contracts for Difference Scheme due to open next month, the UK government will ensure that £20m per year will be ringfenced for Tidal Stream projects, giving the marine energy sector a chance to develop their technology and lower their costs.

This will bring the total funding for this allocation round to £285m per year.

Over time marine technologies have the potential to significantly contribute to the government’s decarbonisation commitments and aim to support hundreds of green jobs across the country, with projects currently in development in North-West Scotland, North Wales and the Southern coast of England.

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “As an island nation we are perfectly placed to capitalise on clean marine energy, building on our booming offshore wind sector which is now a British industrial success story.

“We hope to see marine energy follow in the successful footprints of other renewable technologies, where we’ve seen costs fall dramatically in recent years thanks to UK government support.

“The investment today provides a major push for tidal power to become a key part of the next generation of renewable electricity projects needed to strengthen energy security as we work to reduce our dependency on volatile fossil fuels.”

The Contracts for Difference scheme is the government’s primary method of encouraging investment in low-carbon electricity. The scheme has helped to deliver new investment and reductions in the costs of capital for some renewable technologies, such as helping to reduce the price of offshore wind by 65 per cent.