Recipient organisationThe European Marine Energy Centre Limited
Funding£1.4M
PeriodDec 2023 — Nov 2029
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
A 9.6MW tidal energy farm of four floating turbines will begin generating electricity in European waters in 2027, aiming to prove that predictable ocean power can work at commercial scale. Tidal stream energy is reliable and forecastable—unlike wind or solar—but remains almost entirely untapped. Only 13MW is currently deployed globally, despite an estimated 10GW of potential in European waters alone. The gap is not in the resource but in proving that tidal farms can operate reliably, affordably, and safely over decades. If successful, the project will cut the cost of tidal electricity from €120 to under €100 per megawatt-hour, and reduce financing costs from 10–12% to 5–6% by providing 17,520 hours of operational data. It aims to increase device availability above 95% and scale supply chain capacity from one turbine per year to 80. The consortium will also make environmental impact data publicly available, supporting safe expansion toward a 100GW global market and a 2GW project pipeline. For the UK and Europe, this means a domestic, predictable, and low-carbon energy source that strengthens grid stability without relying on weather-dependent generation.
View original technical description
There is 10GW of predictable, high-value tidal stream energy potential in European waters, with up to 100 GW of capacity globally . This is an almost entirely unharnessed clean energy resource, with just 13 MW currently deployed . Transitioning European market leading technologies from single deployments, up to farm scale, is the next milestone in harnessing this clean, predictable, secure, domestic energy resource. EURO-TIDES has been developed specifically to address the call topic by delivering a 9.6MW farm of four 2.4MW Orbital tidal energy devices of the same series. The farm will operate in full operational conditions for 15 years, deploying in 2027. The EUROTIDES consortium will work collaboratively to deliver six ambitious objectives and drive the sector forwards: 1. De-risking tidal energy technology development by delivering a 9.6MW pilot farm and three pilot farm system innovations; reducing Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) of Orbital’s floating tidal technology from €120/MWh to <€100/MWh. 2. Increase bankability and insurability by providing 17,520 hours of operational data, displaying the production of 50GWh+, and verification of key technology metrics to internationally recognised methodologies: reducing cost of capital from 10%-12% to 5%-6%. 3. Increase availability of tidal stream by creating an efficient robust, replicable, and reliable operations and maintenance programme: increasing availability to 95%+. 4. Improve market confidence by developing industrial design and manufacturing processes: increasing supply chain capacity from one device per annum to 80 devices per annum. 5. Increase knowledge of environmental impacts to ensure appropriate environmental protection and mitigation is in place: enabling safe scalability to a 100GW+ global market. 6. Making performance, reliability and behavior data collected from the demonstration publicly available: accelerating scalability, commercialisation, and deployment of a 2GW+ project pipeline.
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