Oct 22 2010
According to a new market study from IHS Emerging Energy Research, global ocean energy sector could witness a tremendous growth in view of the increased number of projects.
If these projects prove to be successful, then the ocean energy project pipeline could experience a dramatic growth. According to IHS, over 1.8 GW of ocean projects are currently in the pipeline.
Recent development in the ocean energy sector has attracted a significant amount of interest from a number of renowned companies. Majority of these firms are experts in offshore wind and hydro power utilities. At present, U.K leads the market with 300 MW of projects in the anvil. The projects are expected to be initiated in the next five years.
Additionally, the U.K government is looking forward to include 1.3 GW by 2020. This plan will enable the country to meet its 2020 renewable targets. According to the study, countries such as Australia, South Korea, Portugal, France and Ireland represent the major ocean energy markets and will continue to remain the main focus for the next ten years.
Among ocean energy, growth potential will be first observed in the tidal energy sector as it is attracting well-established OEMs in the ocean energy’s supply chain due to the combined efforts of the hydro power and tidal turbine manufacturing industry.
IHS’ Senior Renewable Power Analyst, Marianne Boust stated that major players such as Voith Hydro, Alstom Hydro and Andritz Hydro, who occupy 80% of the total hydro turbine supply have taken a keen interest in the tidal sector.