European ministers and energy industry leaders reconfirmed their commitment to accelerating the pace of development of ocean energy in Europe at the Ocean Energy Europe 2014 conference in Paris at the start of October. Ministers from France, the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Greece all took part in the conference, and highlighted the fact that European collaboration would be key to commercialisation in the sector.
Irish Energy Minister Alex White said at the Conference that international collaboration was key to understanding and overcoming the challenges the ocean energy sector faces in realising its commercial potential. This sentiment was echoed by Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing, who stressed that a collaborative model was the way forward and that the time had come for the industry to unite.
“The Scottish Government is committed to working with its partners from across the European Union to support the development and commercialisation of the ocean energy industry and allow Europe’s ocean energy sector to stay ahead in the race,” Ewing said.
The minister said that Scotland was at the forefront of marine energy technology development thanks to an abundance of ocean resource and world-leading test facilities at the European Marine Energy Centre. However, he stressed that the best engineers and the best brains from across Europe would be needed to make wave and tidal stream technologies viable and cost effective.
Speaking at the event, Ocean Energy Europe CEO Dr Sian George said that ocean energy would play a big role in decarbonising and securing Europe’s energy supply, adding that the conference had shown that European political and industrial leaders would do whatever it takes to turn ocean energy into a fully-fledged commercial sector. “The industry will work with the EU and its Member States to get as much kit in the water as possible before 2020, with full commercial roll-out following after,” she said.