Simple, low-carbon energy projects are often hampered by a lack of funding, so the European Commission and Investment Bank have teamed up to provide a lifeline.
“We know that innovative ocean energy projects, especially those perceived as high-risk, still find it difficult to get financial backing,” Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella said yesterday.
This was why, together with the European Investment Bank, the Commission was exploring the possibility of setting up an investment platform for ocean energy, he said during a symposium organised by Edinburgh, Windsor, Malta, Nottingham and Leeds universities.
Referring to a recent visit to AW Energy, Mr Vella said the company was set up after a Finnish diver who was exploring a shipwreck, noticed how heavy pieces of wreckage were being moved back and forth by water. It had got him thinking: what if we could use the immense force of the ocean’s waters to generate electricity?
After testing out one of its prototypes with EU financial support, AW Energy became the first company to receive support (€10 million) this month under a scheme set up by the EIB and the Commission to finance innovative energy projects.
Some say that harvesting just 0.1 per cent of the energy contained in waves could power the entire world five times over
Although it seemed deceptively simple, there was nothing simple about putting that diver’s idea into practice, Mr Vella said, adding that the EU wanted to help people move from that first flash of inspiration to viable business ventures.
Renewable ocean energy represented an “outstanding opportunity” in creating jobs and economic growth.
Mr Vella noted how offshore wind, a virtually inexistent industry 15 years ago, was nowadays a big business, doubling investment in Europe to a record €13.3 billion last year.
Tidal and wave energy were also making huge strides: “Some say that harvesting just 0.1 per cent of the energy contained in waves could power the entire world five times over… according to the Carbon Trust, the market opportunities could be worth around €535 billion until 2050.”
Many were gearing up to take a share of that market, and EU companies were leading the way. Roughly half of the world’s wave and tidal energy companies were based in Europe, the Commissioner said, adding that the world’s first tidal farms would start operating this summer in Scotland and Brittany.
The Commission wanted to understand how it could give this emerging blue economy sector a helping hand, Mr Vella said.
It has set up a public-private roundtable which will be finalising a strategic roadmap this year, and meanwhile, the Commission had identified areas, such as funding, where it could move ahead.