Tidal energy could be a game-changer for a greener, more sustainable economy as the EU moves towards a target of 40-percent renewables in its overall energy mix by 2030.
It could deliver 100 GW of capacity by 2050 – equivalent to 10 percent of Europe's electricity consumption today.European grants – including Horizon 2020 grants - have been instrumental in moving the needle forward in tidal energy research, and now the technology has reached fruition.
The next step is scaling up the prototype platforms so that tidal energy can become commercially viable and enter the energy grid in a meaningful way.
There's just one hitch in this plan: cost.
Tidal energy is the new kid on the block in terms of the renewable energy market. All types of energy production require significant financial backing, but tidal energy companies are running into problems when they ask for support to scale-up.
Traditional funders, like banks, are either unwilling to invest at all, or else offer sky-high interest rates on their loans, making it commercial nonsense for tidal energy companies to accept. No bank seems to want to be the first one to give tidal energy the green light, only to see the scale-up efforts flop.
"It's really about the promise that this industry will take off and reach some maturity," said Jan Cornellie, project leader of the Clean Energy for EU Islands secretariat.
"At the moment, I think that's also why the banks remain sitting on the fence - to see whether it's really going to happen." - link - Catherine Collins - link - more like this - link
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