Today IEA-OES published its 2021 Annual Report, the most comprehensive annual overview of national policies, research and technology demonstration on ocean energy in its member countries. The report also presents the achievements and progress of OES collaborative projects.
Despite being a challenging year, 2021 saw sustained innovation and cross-border collaboration, leading to continued offshore testing and deployment of ocean energy prototypes. The report reveals that several projects achieved extensive operating hours and a growing range of devices are being tested at open sea.
National governments are also showing positive signs to developers and investors by supporting the sector: US DOE announced the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a legislation that will provide billions of dollars in federal funding to a variety of infrastructure and clean energy projects across the country, including funds applicable for ocean energy. The approval of the Australian Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Bill 2021 is seen as a strong step forward in support of Australian ocean energy development. In China, the approval of ‘The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035’, ensures political commitment to ocean energy development in the country.
The EuropeWave scheme, jointly backed by EVE-Basque Energy Agency, Wave Energy Scotland and Ocean Energy Europe has selected seven wave energy projects for support to further develop their device concepts, using a pre-commercial procurement scheme. Multi-country research and innovation projects, particularly supported by European Union funding, are contributing to significantly improving the overall reliability, energy yield, availability, operating costs and lifetime costs of complete ocean energy systems.
“This 2021 OES report can be read as twofold: indeed on the one hand, the testimony that many countries now see ocean energy as one of the practical levers of the energy transition and have taken programmatic and financial decisions to support the sector; in the other hand, the OES Technology Collaborative Program has launched an updated and ambitious strategic plan, building on the flow of results from ongoing projects. ” says Yann-Hervé De Roeck, Chairperson of OES.
In 2021, progress has been made on a number of OES collaborative strategic Tasks: The OTEC task culminated in the launch of the White Paper on OTEC, calling for political awareness of the need to work together to develop OTEC much faster than its current pace. For a number of years, OES-Environment has been working towards risk retirement for stressors that may affect marine animals and habitats. While the issues that surround these interactions have not been entirely solved with respect to consenting, the research and monitoring underway around the world is making great strides. Further, the International Evaluation and Guidance Framework published in 2021 builds the foundations of a clear, unambiguous evaluation methodology for cost-efficiency and technical success of ocean energy technologies. Beyond the delivery of this document, OES has continued to engage and collaborate, progressing towards an internationally agreed process for maturation and evaluation of ocean energy technology. Working internationally enables nations to pool talent and resources to address global challenges that no country can tackle alone. This report reflects the benefits of cross-cutting coordination between different levels of industry, academia, and government.
The IEA-OES Annual Report 2021 is available here.